YP Operation! PRAG?
by Rikku the bluefirevixon
Summary: Spira is now entering into a true period of calm. Paine's visit to Yuna results in the plotting of a devious plan to get a certain pair of Al Bhed together. The problem? Rikku's stubborn and Gippal's well... a guy. Romantic Comedy
1. Plotting

**YP Operation: PRAG  
(Pair Rikku and Gippal)**

**

* * *

Chapter 1: Plotting  
Warnings:** _None  
_**Disclaimer:** _sigh, I don't own the characters…  
_**A/N:** _I have been wanting to write something involving Rikku for quite a while now. I've always been a big fan of this pairing just because it's so canon. Anyways, I've always thought that I've been better at writing serious stuff, so this is my little challenge to myself: a romantic comedy. Please R&R. CC (Constructive Criticism) is appreciated. _

* * *

It had been almost a year since the Gullwing girls had stopped Shuyin from using Bevelle's powerful machina weapon, Vegnagun, to destroy Spira by reuniting him with his long lost love, Lenne. Since then, each had gone their own way: Yuna and Tidus moved into a hut in Besaid, Rikku had returned Home to resume her duties as the daughter of the Al Bhed leader, Cid, and Paine went to Bevelle, eventually earning the title of Commander in the newly formed forces of Spira- The New Alliance. 

The girls kept in touch with each other through spheres and frequent visits to one another. Most recently, Paine had been able to get enough time off from the Alliance to drop by Besaid Island for a quick visit…

* * *

The silver- haired warrior walked through the village entrance. She stopped to take in the peaceful scene. The people of Besaid walked back and forth, carrying on their daily chores with little noise. The loudest sound that could be heard was the laughing of children as they chased a golden retriever around the village. 

Paine smiled. Having become accustomed to the hustle and bustle of Bevelle, she had forgotten just how peaceful the island of Besaid was.

To her right, the door of a hut rustled as a tan arm pulled it open. "I'll be back in a bit, Lu." A red-haired man emerged from the hut, stretching out his arms. Turning, he caught sight of Paine, "Hey! Paine!"

Paine shifted her weight as the man ran up to greet her, "Hello, Wakka."

"What brings you here? Came for another visit to the newlyweds, ya?"

Paine nodded, "Are they busy?"

"No more than usual, ya? I'll take you to them." Wakka turned and walked to the small path on the left side of the village. Once having led to the ruins of a hut destroyed by Sin, the path now led to a large yet humble hut. Paine followed the former blitzball captain, noticing the new decorations Yuna had added outside the hut. Wakka tapped on the door, "Hey, Yuna. You've got someone here to see you, ya?"

A small hand pulled back the door, and a young brunette stuck her head through the opening, "Wakka, who could be…" Seeing Paine, Yuna instantly rushed from the hut and embraced her friend, "Paine! What a surprise! It's great to see you!"

Paine was caught off guard for only a second before she returned her friend's hug, "It's great to see you too, Yuna. How have you been?"

Yuna pulled back and grabbed Paine hands, "It's been great! Tidus and I have been keeping ourselves busy, even after the wedding." She laughed happily, "Come on in!" She turned to Wakka, "You coming? Or is Lulu keeping you too busy?"

"No, you guys go ahead," Wakka waved his hand dismissively, "I'm sure Lu will want me to get about my business so I can check back in with her and Vidina. You guys have fun." He waved once more before turning and running back up the path into the central area of the village.

Once Wakka had left, Yuna turned back to Paine and pulled her enthusiastically into the hut, "Don't just stand there. Come in!"

Inside, Tidus was working on the central fire pit. He looked up as the girls came in, "Oh, hi Paine."

"Hello." Paine replied. Even though the two had met several times before, Tidus and Paine had never really been able to connect. Her stoic nature made Tidus nervous and usually resulted in their initial greetings having a degree of awkwardness to them.

Yuna smiled warmly at Tidus, "Isn't it great Paine came to see us?"

"Yeah." Tidus replied, trying to sound enthusiastic, "A real surprise." He dusted off his hands on his pants and then walked over to Yuna, giving her a loving kiss on the cheek, "I'll give you guys some time to yourself. I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on."

"Oh, you don't have—"Yuna began, ever the considerate hostess.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Tidus walked to the door with a wave, "I have some things I have to do anyways. Just whistle if you need me, right?"

Yuna smiled, "Yeah. I will."

Tidus returned a smile and let his gaze linger on her for a second longer before turning and leaving the hut.

"Cute." Paine commented. It was hard not to notice how well Yuna and Tidus were getting along together.

Yuna redirected her attention to Paine, "Thanks." She gestured towards a small couch on one side of the hut, "Now, sit! You have to tell me everything that's happened."

* * *

The two girls sat chatting for quite some time, talking about everything that had happened to them in the past couple of months. Paine had been working on training new recruits and experienced few problems within the ranks of soldiers, and Yuna had been working on decorating the hut and teaching young girls in Besaid to heal and defend themselves. Yuna went on to talk about Tidus rejoining the Besaid Aurochs, taking on the position of captain, and prepping them for the next season of Blitzball. As they ran out of new happenings to talk about, the two friends began to talk about memories they had as the Gullwings, taking the opportunity to tease Rikku while she wasn't there, all in good humor, of course. Inevitably, their reminiscing went back to their visit to Djose Temple. That had been Yuna's first experience with the Machine Faction… and Gippal. 

"You were the only one who had no idea what to expect of him." Paine chuckled.

"That's right." Yuna replied, "I must admit that I was a little weirded out at first." She laughed, "I had no idea that you and Gippal already knew each other. And then Rikku…" She took time to shake her head there, "She almost kept him from getting to the interview with all their flirting."

"Yeah. It was not hard to see that they had a past together."

"I wonder whatever happened between them?" Yuna wondered aloud, bringing her hand to her face.

"Dunno."

"You know…" Yuna stood, a metaphorical light bulb switching on above her head, "We should try and get them back together!"

"You sure it's wise to get involved in other people's love lifes, Yuna?" Paine asked, nevertheless intrigued by the idea.

"Oh, but they would be so great together!" Yuna gestured with her hands to emphasize the point, "Don't you agree, Paine?"

"Well, I can't say I don't agree." Paine replied dryly. No matter how uninterested she was in frivolous love affairs, she knew there was no sense in arguing the point.

"Then let's do it!" Yuna said, the excitement rising in her voice. It would be fun to travel and see Rikku, getting some time off from her usual duties in the village, "It would be like another Gullwing mission!"

"Except we'd be missing one." Paine pointed out.

"So, instead of YRP, we'd just be YP! We could even come up with a name for it!" Yuna paused to think for a moment, "It could be YP Operation: Pair Rikku and Gippal!"

Paine shook her head at the ridiculous name, "PRAG?"

"This will be fun!" Yuna clapped her hands together as she let herself fall back on the couch next to Paine.

Suddenly, the door was pulled opened, causing the girls to look up. Tidus walked into the hut, carrying a large fruit, "What will be fun?"

Yuna clasped her hands together in her lap and tried to smiled innocently, but was barely able to suppress signs of laughter, "Oh nothing." She turned to Paine and winked, bringing a finger to her lips, "We'll finish this tonight."

Tidus set down the fruit and looked to Paine with a quizzical expression on his face, but she just ran her fingers through her hair, shaking her head, "Whatever you say, Yuna."


	2. Stage 1: Conviction

**Stage 1:_ Conviction  
_****Warnings: **_Still none, isn't that nice?  
_**Disclaimer: **_Well damn. I don't own Rikku or anyone else. But I'm keeping her name as a souvenir!  
_**A/N: **_So here's chapter 2- the first stage of Yuna and Paine's plot. I know these chapters have been short, but this has been the best way to divide them up so far. Go here for Al Bhed translations: albhed dot netfirms dot com ; we cannot put in links into the stories, so you'll have to work with that. I am also putting a link in my profile. R CC is appreciated. _

* * *

"Me and Gippal?" The blonde- haired Al Bhed pulled back from under the most recent model of Al Bhed machina, looking up at her cousin from a crouch. She lifted the grime-covered goggles from her face, "No way!" 

"And why not?" Yuna placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward.

Rikku finished adjusting a bolt on the machine and stood with a sigh, "Yuniiiiiie, I haven't seen you in ages! Do we have to talk about _him_?!"

The former summoner straightened, clasping her hands behind her back, and flashed her friend an innocent smile, "C'mon Rikku, haven't you ever thought about it?"

* * *

"Wait, so you think I should take another stab at her?" Gippal scratched the back of his head as he looked disbelievingly at Paine with his good eye. 

Paine sighed, taking another step towards him, "You know I don't like to repeat myself." Silently, she wondered why she had gotten stuck talking to Gippal. Sure she had known him longer, working with him, Nooj, and Baralai in the Crimson Squad, but she had little desire to try and talk to men about matters of romance. In her mind, the majority of them were idiots about it anyways.

* * *

"Well, I guess I've thought about it…" Rikku took off her gloves, carelessly dropping them on the floor next to her goggles. A passing machina worker sighed, picking up the girl's quickly forgotten gear, "Fuimt oui mega sa du vehecr dryd vun oui, Secc Rikku?" 

"Hm?" Rikku turned her head to the worker, "Ugea! Dryd fuimt pa knayd. Yunie yht E ryja esbundyhd picehacc du yddaht du." She grabbed Yuna's hand as she hurried past her, moving quickly enough to almost knock her off balance as she did so.

"There's no way it would ever work." Rikku looked back over her shoulder at her cousin, "Gippal's too egotistical."

* * *

"Ah, no way." Gippal brought his hand down, moving his arms across each other in front of him, "Can't do it." 

"And why's that?" Paine asked him, raising an eyebrow ever- so- slightly. "You like her, right?"

"Well… yeah," he crossed his arms, "but Rikku's too… well…she's…" Trying to think of something that would discourage him from pursuing her, Gippal found himself to be unsuccessful. "She's Cid's girl!" he threw his arms in front of him, already knowing the response he was going to get from Paine.

"And Cid supports you two getting together." Paine replied dryly, "Gippal, I can see right through your excuses. They didn't work in the Crimson Squad, and they won't work now."

Gippal made a noise that resembled a grunt, "Tysh ed, Paine…"

A member of the Machine Faction ran up to his leader, "Gippal cen, fa ryja suna ehdanjeafaac."

Gippal turned to the Al Bhed man, a distressed expression on his face, "Damm dras fa'na hud dygehk ehdanjeafc dutyo." He turned back to Paine, "Can we talk about this somewhere else?" Dismissing the worker, he turned and headed to his room at the back of Djose Temple's main hall.

* * *

Yuna quickened her pace to keep up with the speedy Al Bhed girl, "Don't make excuses, Rikku. He did help us a lot with Vegnagun. He can't be _that_ egotistical." 

Rikku stopped when they reached the door to the garage and began to fidget, knowing that her cousin was right. She let go of Yuna's hand, turning to back into the door, "Yuna!" She cried in exasperation as she pushed the door open, "Well poopie." She stepped into a side hallway of the newly rebuilt Home. "Have I really been reduced to having him as my only option?"

"Rikku," Yuna spoke softly as she also walked into the hallway, "Is there someone else you like?"

"Well, no." Rikku replied, her voice also becoming quiet. She looked down at her hands, unable to keep still.

"Then what's stopping you!?"

Rikku stopped and looked up, raising an eyebrow at Yuna, "Why are you so anxious to talk about it anyways?" She lightly punched Yuna's arm, trying to once again gain the upper hand in the conversation, "Tidus boring you already? Heh heh."

Yuna stepped back, "Don't be silly, Rikku! You're trying to change the subject!" She pointed a finger accusingly at the Al Bhed girl.

Rikku pretended to act offended, crossing her arms, "Am not!"

Both girls tried to hold a serious face as they looked at each other, but eventually broke into laughter. "But really," Yuna began once the laughter had calmed, "what's stopping you? You flirt every time you see each other! You should give it a chance."

About to give in, Rikku wagged a finger at the ex-summoner, "You sound like you're plotting something, you know?"

Yuna immaturely stamped her foot, "I am not!" Quickly she recovered and replied with a wink, "I'm just observant."

"I dunno, Yunie…" Rikku began, turning away.

"Just give him a chance!" Yuna stepped forward, giving her friend a light push.

"Yowza!" Rikku took a few steps forward to regain her balance. She turned back to Yuna and stuck her tongue out, "meanie." Yuna just looked at her, her wish clear in her expression. Rikku sighed and placed her hands on her hips, "Alright! Alright! No need to push!" She leaned forward, a small, shy smile forming on her lips, "I'll give him a chance… but he better not screw up!"

* * *

Paine followed Gippal into the room, closing the door behind her. He was already sitting on the bed, his head in his hands. Paine took a seat in a chair across the room, crossing her arms over her chest and one leg over the other, and waited for Gippal to start. Gippal lifted his head from his hands, "Do you really think she would say yes? I mean we did have a small thing in the past…" 

Paine shrugged, "What's in the past is in the past."

Gippal stood, "You're right. I'll give it a try." He rubbed the back of his head and started walking towards the door, "I guess I should give Cid a call." He turned back towards Paine, "I just hope I don't screw up."


	3. Stage 2: Preparation

**Stage 2: Preparation  
****Warnings: **_still none  
_**Disclaimer: **_Does Gippal's sexiness belong to the makers of Final Fantasy? It does? Well damn. Still don't own anything... -clutches Rikku's name to breast- I'm not letting this go.  
_**A/N: **_alright, this chapter is a bit longer since I'm really starting to get into things. Don't need to worry about Al Bhed translating in this one. I found this chapter rather amusing to write—even if it _is_ a transition chapter. Anyways, lucky you guys- I'm still posting chapters more consistently than I usually do. Okay, now I'm rambling. CC still appreciated. R&R please_

* * *

Rikku was wriggling as she and Yuna walked down the hallway towards Home's central elevator. The concept of her and Gippal getting together seemed both natural and foreign to her at the same time. Perhaps it had something to do with how old they had been the last time they had been "together." She, herself, had been only 14—a year before she had been sent on the mission to liberate High Summoner Yuna from her fate. Then it had been easy to say they were together without really complicating things.Now that they were older, would he have… expectations… of her? The thought of it sent a lukewarm shiver down her spine. Rikku had little experience with girlfriend/ boyfriend relationships—especially when it came to the physical aspect of love. Then again, would it be so bad if Gippal wanted to be physical? After all, he was cute and so… Rikku quickly found herself becoming uncomfortable with this train of thought and turned her attention to her cousin, "Yunie, we should probably go see Pops. He would be really upset if you came to Home and didn't see him." 

Yuna smiled, "You're right. We'll stop by there first."

Eager to keep herself distracted, Rikku quickened her pace to reach the elevator. "He's probably in his office. He doesn't do much else except give orders from there anymore." Rikku made a face as she punched in buttons on the control panel. The doors to the elevator opened, and Rikku jumped a little too quickly inside. Yuna stepped inside next to her friend, choosing not to comment on the clear anxiety Rikku was experiencing, and closed her eyes with a smile. The Al Bhed girl fidgeted even as she entered in a code on the control panel inside the elevator.

The elevator moved quickly, but smoothly, sending them to one of the topmost levels of Home in a matter of seconds. The metal doors opened to reveal a well- adorned office with pictures of former Al Bhed leaders gracing the walls of the room. At a desk in front of a large window- wall overlooking Home and the Bikanel desert, sat Cid.

He looked up as Yuna walked forward to greet him, "Hello, Uncle Cid."

Cid stood, his arms outstretched, "Well if it isn't my favorite niece! Yuna!" He walked over to the former summoner, enveloping her in a bear hug. "Yuna! It's great to see you, girl! How you been?"

"Same as usual." Yuna smiled warmly, returning the Al Bhed leader's hug, "Tidus and I have been quite busy."

"Well, that's good to hear," Cid replied gruffly, but friendly all the same, "That Tidus kid; has he been treating ya well? Cuz if he hasn't…"

Yuna hastily ensured him that Tidus had been treating her well, ending with, "I haven't ever been happier."

Cid nodded his approval and returned to his desk, "Well that's good then. You make sure and let him know I'm keeping tabs on him."

Yuna laughed softly, "Will do, Uncle Cid."

Cid continued to nod and looked past Yuna to Rikku, who was shifting around in her position by the elevator. He raised an eyebrow and looked back to Yuna, "What's up with her?"

Before Yuna could answer, Rikku hurried forward, "Nothing Pops! Eheheh…" She placed her hand behind her head and then turned to Yuna, grabbing her arm, "Let's go. I need to get out of these clothes!" She used her free hand to motion to the machina grime that covered her entire body.

Yuna nodded, understanding her cousin's hurry, "Okay, Rikku." She bowed forward politely, "Bye, Uncle Cid. I'll have to stop by and visit you again sometime."

Just as Rikku began to pull Yuna away, Cid interrupted to stop the two girls, "Hey, wait up; Rikku, I have a message for you."

Rikku only turned her head as she continued towards the elevator, "Well I want to go change first then…"

"It's from Gippal."

She froze. A message? Already? Even as she slowly turned back to face Cid, Rikku could feel her heart rate increase. "heheh, Gippal?"

"Yup." Cid replied, oblivious to his daughter's inner confliction, "He called a while back saying he had to settle some things with the Machine Faction, and then he was going to return Home for a while."

She was almost afraid to ask, "And this is a message for me… how?"

"uh, well yes," Cid rubbed the back of his bald head, "He was planning on taking you somewhere tonight… though he didn't say where…"

Rikku once again returned to fidgeting and moving around, made incredibly anxious by this news, "ooh, Pops, when's he gonna get here?"

"Well he was almost finished settling the Faction when I talked to him," Cid grinned, "So he's probably on his way now!"

"Eep." Rikku grabbed Yuna's hand, "Yunie, I've got to go change! See ya, Pops!" The two girls rushed from the room and into the elevator before Cid was given a chance to say any more to them.

"So Gippal's taking a shot at my little girl, eh?" Cid said into the air with a chuckle, "Well, good luck to the both of them. They're gonna need it."

* * *

Rikku rapidly jabbed her finger into the buttons on the control panel, sending them another level higher, "Yunie! What am I going to do?" 

"What do you mean?" The metal doors slid open, revealing a small hallway with a door at the end. Yuna stepped out ahead of her cousin, "You said you were going to give it a chance, right?"

"Ooooh, but Yuuunie! He totally just asked me out through Pops!" Rikku hastened out of the elevator to catch up with the brown haired girl, "And he's going to be here any minute!" She pranced around in front of Yuna and stopped, "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

"Oh, Rikku, don't be ridiculous." Yuna stepped around the blonde girl and continued to the door, "You're just nervous."

Rikku stomped her feet, "No! This just…" She pulled out a key for the door and fumbled with the lock, hardly able to keep her hand still enough to get the key in the lock, "it doesn't feel right, ya know?" The lock turned, and the control panel next to the door glowed a blue color. _Please enter the Passcode._

Yuna placed her hands on Rikku's shoulders, offering a supportive smile, "Don't worry; everything will be fine."

"mhm!" Rikku wriggled away and typed in the passcode, "Yunie, how is it that you always remain so supportive?" The door clicked and opened. Rikku hurried into the room and went straight to the bathroom to wash her hands.

Yuna walked leisurely into the room, closing the door behind her. "You know, you probably don't have to rush so much. It might make you seem too eager."

Rikku winced. Sarcastic Yuna. She dried her hands on a towel and exited the bathroom, "Yuna, I'm having a hard time with this." She headed towards her closet, throwing the doors open.

Yuna raised an eyebrow as she noticed Rikku eying stuff other than what she usually wore. She knew all she had to do now was push. "Well, I think you should just stop acting like this. Calm down and get ready. It's too late to go back now; so you might as well make sure you don't embarrass yourself."

Rikku quieted her movements and lowered her voice, "you're right, Yunie…" She finally reached into the closet and pulled out an outfit: A short, blue skirt with a light blue halter top that would come just below her ribcage in the front and down to the base of her spine in the back. She threw the clothes on the bed and began to dig through her closet for shoes. Just as she picked out a pair (blue platforms that strapped up around the leg), there was a knock at the door. Rikku squeaked, throwing the shoes across the room as she jumped towards the door.

"Ummm, Rikku…" Yuna tried to stop her, "That's not…"

"He's here!" She whispered loudly, "Yunie, what do I do?"

"But that's not—" Yuna tried again.

"Oh, forget it!" Rikku threw up her hands and dove behind her bed, "You answer it!"

Yuna sighed, seeing that she wasn't going to be listened to by the irrational blonde. She walked over to the door and opened it.

Rikku quickly ducked her head behind the bed before inching her face up to see over the covers. Standing in the doorway was… Paine.

Rikku sighed loudly, pulling herself up onto the bed. "oh, Paine- you scared me!" She crawled over the top of the bed, hopping down on the other side, "I thought you were someone else."

"Gippal?" Paine crossed her arms, "He had to check in with Cid first."

"You already know about him?" Rikku looked back and forth between Yuna and Paine. "I KNEW IT---"

Paine quickly cut her off to prevent accusations that could ruin the whole operation, "We just happened to get here at the same time. What's going on?"

Rikku filled her silver- haired friend in on the conversations between her and Yuna and then with Cid.

"Well," Paine placed one hand on her hip, "If you plan on meeting him like that, then there's really no point in even trying." She gestured to Rikku's still grime- covered body, "Unless he has some weird thing for girls covered in machina oil."

Rikku looked down at herself, "Crap!" She began running around the room getting her stuff together. "I have to shower!"

"Need any help with that?"

Rikku stopped in her tracks and all three girls' eyes looked to the source of the new voice. All of the stuff in Rikku's arms fell when she saw him. "uh, hey, Gippal," She just barely squeaked out, her throat suddenly dry and constricted.

Gippal leaned against her doorframe, a smooth grin on his face, "Hey, Cid's girl."


	4. Stage 3: The Date

**Stage 3: _The Date  
_Warnings: **_nothing much. Slight pervertedness and a cuss word, but that's it really.  
_**Disclaimer: **_Square- Enix's stuff is not mine. But I did come up with her outfit!  
_**A/N: **_What I'm sure you all have been waiting for… the date! So, yes, the story has kicked into gear. Sorry it took longer than expected to update. I had a block for a while; so I'm a day or two late. Anyways, there's a significant amount of Al Bhed used in this chapter because Rikku and Gippal_ are _Al Bhed- though I did go back and tone it down when I was finished so there wouldn't be a crazy amount of translating (thanks to a helpful hint from a friend). So go to: albhed dot netfirms dot com -- we're not allowed to put links in the stories, so you can either work with that or use the link on my profile page.  
R&R, CC is appreciated, and most importantly… Enjoy!_

_

* * *

Gippal leaned against her doorframe, a smooth grin on his face, "Hey, Cid's girl." _

"You… uh… got here fast." Rikku began picking up her stuff, trying to keep her voice from becoming too high-pitched. She became very aware of the fact that she was still in much need of a shower, and already she could feel her face begin to heat up.

"Yeah, things were going well at the Machine Faction." Gippal pushed himself from the doorframe and stepped into her room, taking his time to look around, "Boy, it's been a while since I was last in here." He looked over at Rikku with an exaggerated wink, "Ain't that right, Cid's girl?"

Rikku could feel it as her face went from warm to feeling like a Bomb fiend. She tried to laugh off the banter but found herself unable to put together anything comprehensible, "I… uh… well…eheheh…" She began to back up, finding herself wishing that he would just disappear.

Gippal swaggered through the room, making his way over to the bed. He looked around once more, "What? You haven't told them—" He turned his gaze to Rikku, "whoa, oui'na y sacc!"

That was all it took. "I…uhh… shower… no time…ya know?" Unable to say anymore, Rikku clutched her clothes tightly and fled from her room into the bathroom, closing the door loudly behind her.

"Csuudr, eteud." Paine commented dryly, "She was already nervous enough without you saying that."

"huh?" Gippal looked from the bathroom door to Paine and back to the door, "But I was just acting the way I always do." _yht E ryja du cyo-- drana'c hudrehk fnuhk fedr yh Al Bhed kenm lujanat eh sylrehy uem. Gehty rud, naymmo._

"Maybe that's the problem."

Gippal snapped back from his slightly- perverse train of thought, confused, "Am I supposed to change the way I act?"

"Well… maybe," Yuna offered, "you should just be more careful until she gets used to the idea. This is a big step for both of you, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Gippal rubbed the back of his neck, looking back towards the bathroom door.

"You can't just act like an idiot." Paine told him bluntly. "You have to be sensitive."

"Sensitive, eh?" Gippal nodded, "I can be sensitive."

Paine snorted.

"Hey!" Gippal threw his hands down, "It's not like this was my ide—"

"Paine! What are you doing?" Yuna called out to Paine as she stepped forward, pulling her sword out and pointing it at his throat. Her voice was low but fierce, "Say no more."

Gippal shut up but returned the attack with a fierce glare.

Paine merely rolled her eyes and went over to the bathroom door, opening it. Rikku almost fell as she stumbled forward from behind the door. Paine crossed her arms, "Having fun listening?"

"Eheh…" Rikku quickly tried to recover, scrambling to regain her footing.

Paine looked from Rikku to Gippal, "Now are you two going to keep being difficult, or are you going to go on a date already?"

Rikku almost instantly forgot her nervousness around Gippal as Paine's red eyes pierced into her. She went over to Gippal, whispering behind her hand, "We better do what she says. She's scary when she's mad."

Gippal nodded, keeping his eyes on the dangerous-looking warrior, "yeah. How long do you need to get ready?"

Rikku also kept her eyes on her silver-haired friend as she replied, "an hour?"

"Okay. I'll meet you downstairs."

"okay!" Rikku replied.

Simultaneously, the two each went their own way. Rikku back into the bathroom, and Gippal exiting from her room with a quickened pace. He turned and waved back at Yuna, making it a point to avoid Paine's gaze, "See ya later."

Yuna smiled and nodded, "See you." As Gippal exited the room, she turned back towards Paine, "You know, threatening them to go out isn't really what I had in mind."

Paine shrugged, "It worked, didn't it?"

* * *

An hour later, Rikku stood outside of her room, Yuna and Paine waving her out of the door. Both of them (yes, even Paine) offered her an encouraging smile. Rikku smiled weakly back, moving her hand in a half- hearted wave. When she remained rooted in her spot outside the door for too long, Paine stood and, with a pleasant smile on her face, closed the door. "Go on, have fun." 

Rikku stood outside the door for a moment longer. She took a deep breath, slowly bringing her thoughts together. What was the big deal anyway? It was just Gippal. Gippal, who she had known all her life. Gippal, who was one of the least judgmental people she knew. Gippal, who was but floors below her…

She shook her blonde locks, knowing that if she didn't go now, she never would. Plastering a friendly smile on her face, Rikku turned and went to the elevator. Carefully, she keyed in the code to return to the first floor of Home, pressing each button with a slow precision. As the metal doors closed in front of her, Yuna poked her head out the door and waved once more, "Good Luck." Rikku swallowed, and the doors shut with a dull clunk in front of her.

* * *

Downstairs, Gippal paced. It's not like he was nervous—no, definitely not nervous—just impatient—yes, that is exactly what was bothering him. That's it. Impatience. He ran his fingers through his blond hair, taking slow and easy breaths. With a look at the clock, Gippal could see that an hour had passed. She would be down soon. His mind went to Paine for a moment as he recalled her piercing gaze. He rolled his shoulders, remembering just how scary the silver- haired warrior could be. When he looked up at the clock again, another minute had passed. She was late. He continued to pace, and then decided that he would go up to get her. But, as he turned back to the elevator, he froze. 

The doors opened to reveal a petite blonde in a light blue top. Her clothes were fitted, but were loose enough to slide over her body as she stepped forward from the elevator. Her green eyes sparkled lightly, accented by the green- and- blue jewelry that adorned her neck and ears. As usual, her hair was in braids, but instead of the usual ponytail, they were pulled back and twisted into a half- ponytail, a few strands of hair escaping with her bangs to fall lightly by her cheeks. Gippal had to work to keep from looked at her with his jaw dropped in a dumb stupor, "Rikku?"

The girl looked up at Gippal with her bright, green eyes, "Oac?" She blushed lightly, very aware of the fact that he had actually said her name instead of the usual 'Cid's girl.'

"You...you…" He fumbled to find the right words, "cleaned up well."

Rikku raised an eyebrow, recalling his earlier comment about her being a mess, and debated whether this was to make up for that or not. She took a strengthening breath and replied, "Thank you." She stepped forward. And then stepped forward again, an expectant look on her face, "So... ummm... crymm fa ku huf?"

"uh, Right." Seeing her nervousness, Gippal was able to relax a bit. _Sensitive…right. _He reminded himself as he too stepped forward. Offering his arm, Gippal flashed a charming grin, "Let's go."

Rikku could feel the heat begin to seep back up into her face as she looked up at him, but forced herself to hold it back. She returned a smile, this time putting energy behind it, "okay!"

He led her outside to a motorcycle- like sand hover. Pulling the keys out of his pocket, Gippal deactivated the alarm system and swung a leg over the front of the machina. He motioned to helmets attached to the side of the hover, "Grab a helmet if you want."

Rikku tilted her head, "We're not going someplace in Home?" She had expected him to take her to one of the many places in the Al Bhed Home that were as suitable for dates as any other. She couldn't imagine what would be out in the desert.

Gippal shook his head, "Just get on." He smiled encouragingly, "Oui'mm caa.."

The blonde- haired girl, walked over to the sand hover and got on, ignoring the use of a helmet the same way Gippal had. As far as an Al Bhed experienced with machina was concerned, helmets were for hafpeac.

"Rumt uh dekrd." Gippal glanced over his shoulder before starting up the engine.

Rikku nervously slid her hands around his side, locking them firmly around his torso. A shiver reverberated throughout her body as she did so. When was the last time they had ridden like this? It had been so long ago… The hover took off suddenly, causing her to hold on tighter to maintain balance. Gippal chuckled, "Since when did speed make you nervous?"

She quickly tried to regain her pride, "It just surprised me, that's all."

"BYE, RIKKU!!" A husky voice loudly called to her from above them.

"oh no... pops..." Rikku looked over her shoulder to see his shrinking form in a balcony above, waving enthusiastically. She ducked her head down in front of her, embarrassed.

Gippal laughed harder, "He's more enthusiastic than you are."

"Crid ib, Gippal."

He looked over his shoulder at her, a sly grin on his face, "Oui'na cdemm rumtehk uh dekrdmo."

The girl gasped and quickly loosened her grip, mumbling under her breath, "pycdynt."

Gippal merely chuckled and shook his head.

* * *

They continued on in silence, the hum of the hover echoing into twilight sky. 

"Know where we're going yet?" Rikku could hear his voice as it broke the silence she had been so peacefully listening to.

"No." She didn't bother to try and sound polite as she said it.

"hmm... E fuimt'ja druikrd oui fuimt ryja nasaspanat..." He said thoughtfully.

Rikku turned her head to face his back, "Nasaspanat?"

Gippal nodded, motioning ahead of them, "Look."

She looked around his body, shifting her grip on the machina as to not fall off as she did so. "oooh." Ahead of them was the desert oasis they had visited so often as children. The newly risen moon shimmered off the surface of the water, causing the oasis to sparkle with brilliance. "I remember..."

The sand hover was parked by the trunk of one of the four trees surrounding the oasis. Rikku jumped off, running to the edge of the water, "Ed'c cu bnaddo!"

Gippal grinned as he turned off the engine and walked around the back of the machina. He lifted the seat up, pulling out a basket with a green cloth hanging out the edges, "Look what I brought."

Rikku took a moment before she stole her eyes away from the water and turned back to Gippal, "Y belhel? No way!" She skipped back to him, jumping with excitement.

He laughed, "Yup. Y belhel." He walked forward and pulled the green cloth out of the basket, laying it down over the sand. Opening it, he began to pull out a grand assortment of foods and drinks.

Rikku's eyes widened when she saw the food, and she practically leapt at the picnic that lay before her, "Gippal! Oui cfaadea!" Before he could even finish laying out everything, she was merrily piling a large stack of food onto a plate.

Gippal raised an eyebrow and snorted, "You sure you need all that food?"

The gathering of food stopped abruptly as she heard this comment. She put the plate of food down and glared at him, "Fine then. I won't eat anything." Crossing her arms, she turned her back to him, making a show of looking away from him.

Gippal looked at her, thoroughly confused. It was only after a moment of thought that he realized that he had just technically called her fat. "aw, Cid's girl, you don't actually think I meant it like that, do ya?"

She looked back towards him, replying softly, "I guess not..." She lifted her eyes to meet his, "I have a name, ya know."

Rikku had never been good at keeping her emotions inside, and now, Gippal could see them clearly on her shy face. He paused and turned to face the Oasis, shifting so that he leaned back on one arm, while wrapping his other arm around one leg. "E's hanjuic duu."

Rikku looked at him in shock. That was the last thing she had expected to hear from Gippal, who was always so cool and collected. "Naymmo?" She brought a hand to her chest, "It's just-- I never really expected this, you know? And, I'm just not very sure of myself. I mean, it seems so different this time, you know?"

Gippal let another moment of silence pass before he responded. "Well, no one said that this one date automatically means that we're together." He grabbed a fruit from the picnic and looked over to her, "We can give it some time and see what develops naturally."

Surprised at his sudden insight, Rikku merely nodded, "okay."

Gippal shifted once again, so that he was now laying on one side, his lower arm supporting his head, "Huf ayd." He poked his free hand at her stomach, "Ev yhodrehk, oui'na maddehk ymm dryd fung syga oui duu cgehho."

Rikku squealed at the poke, jumping back, "Hey! Hu vyen!"

* * *

It was late into the night by the time Gippal began to repack the picnic basket, Rikku laying sleepily in the sand. He placed the basket back into the sand hover and then returned to her, reaching his hand out, "L'suh. Oui'na kaddehk cyht ymm ujan dryd bnaddo uidved." 

The Al Bhed girl yawned widely and reluctantly let herself be pulled up from the sand. Gippal led her over to the machina, helping her climb on behind him. By the time the Oasis began to fade in the background, she had already fallen asleep on his back.

* * *

She had somehow ended up back at her room. Groggy memories recalled a dazed Rikku being half-led, half- carried back up here, but it didn't help her understand it any better. Now, he patiently stood behind her as she went through the process of unlocking her room. By the time the door clicked open, she had managed to wake herself enough to be aware of her surroundings. 

She turned back toward Gippal and smiled, "I had a great time."

"Yeah, me too." He shifted his weight, keeping himself close to her.

Rikku looked up at the much taller Al Bhed, "So, umm, I'll see you later?"

Gippal leaned in closer to her, bringing his face close to hers, "Yeah."

She could begin to feel butterflies flutter in her stomach, his sudden closeness making her nervous. Her mind went back to a previous thought process involving her and Gippal's possible physical relationship. If he kissed her now, did that mean he would want more later? What happened to giving it time and see what happens naturally? Well maybe this is a natural happening… Her heart rate rose as she looked up at him. He still remained very close to her, his good eye looking into both of hers. Finally, she gave in and prepared herself, coming in closer to him. Then a whole new set of thoughts went through her head. Did she kiss him first? Did she wait? What was she supposed to do during the kiss? Where were her hands supposed to go? Her mind remained frantic until his voice interrupted her thoughts, "Rikku?"

She looked up at him, her whole body beginning to feel weak, "yeah?"

"Kuuthekrd." He straightened himself and turned to walk down the hallway, "I'll see you tomorrow." With a light wave of his hand, he stepped into the elevator and was gone.


	5. Stage 4: At Home

**Stage 4: At Home  
**_**Warnings: **It's long… really long. Other than that: none.  
__**Disclaimer: **I don't own whatever isn't mine. But I did come up with the ingenious idea of what happens with the new Home. Square-Enix didn't even plan on bringing Home back, but I did! Bwahahahaha! It's Mine!!! (kinda)  
__**A/N: **Alright, I'm actually posting this chapter on time! Woot. Okay, so this chapter ended up being waaaay longer than I thought it would be… but that's okay. I wanted to get it all in there. This chapter should be rather enjoyable—I brought in Brother. (laughs evilly) Oh, and if you're a girl you should also enjoy the little silent conversation I put between Yuna, Rikku, and Paine every now and then. It's so true that good girl friends can have entire conversations without saying much of anything…  
__Also, as a note I probably should have made in the beginning: PaineBarlai is not an assumed pairing. Paine is based in a part of Bevelle separate from the palace; so, they don't live together or anything… Just thought I should mention that to avoid confusion.  
__The link for the Al Bhed translator is in my profile. Enjoy! (R&R and CC is appreciated)_

* * *

"Kuut…hekrd?" She exhaled softly as she let herself fall, slumped down against her doorframe. Rikku tried to gain control of her thoughts as she leaned her head back against the cold metal, looking up at the ceiling. This was good, right? They were supposed to take it slow, right? Suddenly, she found herself not as thoroughly convinced as she had been earlier. It would be lying to herself to say that she had not wanted it—the warmth of a familiar embrace, the firm feeling of his body close to hers, the feelings of desire that would begin to seep through each of them as one pair of soft lips was met by another… 

Once again, she found herself quickly pulling away from this train of thought. _What is wrong with me?_ She silently chastised herself. Those thoughts were not to be permitted—not now anyways. She took a moment to breathe in deeply and then pushed herself to her feet, still using the doorframe to support her. Why had she let herself be led on so easily anyways? What was it that had made his charm—which she used to find kinda annoying—suddenly so appealing to her? Even after the ups and downs of the night, in the end, she found herself wanting to make this work—_really_ wanting to make it work…

She shook her head, hand going to her forehead. "This is so confusing…" She whined softly. Her thoughts began to sway, reminding her just how tired she was. Briefly noting that Yuna and Paine must have decided to sleep elsewhere, Rikku slowly made her way over to her bed. Her hand slid over the soft comforter, soon followed by the rest of her. She barely had time to remove her shoes before she collapsed upon her bed, falling asleep the moment she allowed her heavy lids to fall over her eyes.

* * *

_Knock knock_. Rikku shifted, conscious but refusing to open her eyes. _Knock knock_. She moaned slightly and reluctantly turned over to her side, bringing one arm under her head as she allowed her eyes to open. Immediately, she closed them again as the bright desert sun flowed in through the window and stung her eyes. _KNOCK KNOCK_. "What?" With the final set of knocks, it finally registered that the annoying sound meant someone was at her door. The Al Bhed girl yawned widely, rubbing her eyes as she tiredly called to her visitor, "Coming." 

"Would you hurry already, Rikku?" A pleasant female voice sounded on the other side of the door, "It seems like you've been asleep forever."

Rikku squinted through the fists at her eyes, "Yunie?" She pushed herself up and shuffled to the door, weakly opening the door, "Is that y—"

Yuna, who had been impatiently waiting on the other side, leapt upon her cousin, grabbing her hands, "So, how was it?"

"huh?" not yet fully awake, Rikku tilted her head to the side, "What are you—"

"How. Was. It." Yuna repeated, clearly enunciating each word.

"…" Rikku blinked, slowly breaking through the grogginess in her head. Oh yeah. Last night. She shook her head and brought her arms up in a shrug, smiling mischievously, "I still don't know what you're talking about, Yunie."

"Oh! Don't tease!" Yuna shoved Rikku playfully, "You're still in the clothes!"

Rikku looked down at her outfit and laughed, "heheh, guess I need to change then." The blonde began to hurry towards her closet, but Yuna was quickly in front of her, decisively in the way.

"Oh no you don't. Not until you tell me about it." The brunette stubbornly met Rikku's gaze with her one-blue one-green eyes.

The Al Bhed girl sighed, "You win, Yunie." She turned and went over to her bed, letting herself fall back on it. "What do you want to know?"

Yuna followed Rikku to the bed and sat down in front of her, "Tell me everything."

_Everything_… Rikku paused as she thought about how to start and looked up at the underside of her canopy bed, "It was… Sweet." No. that wasn't the right way to describe it, "but… Strange." There. That was much more fitting.

"Sweet but Strange?" Yuna repeated, turning her head to her friend.

The blonde nodded. "It was nice, but I never expected Gippal to act like that around me."

Yuna smiled softly. There was something in Rikku's voice that she recognized. A familiarity from so long ago… "hmm. Tell me."

"Well…" Rikku filled her in with what had happened after she had left them the day before. She started with his initial reaction, and continued on to the oasis and the picnic, and then ended with the ride home and being taken to her room, "And so, after he made sure I got to my room safely, he said goodbye and left."

"It sounds like you had a lot of fun." Yuna replied after hearing the story out, "Though I get what you mean by strange. It's hard to imagine Gippal acting any different than his usual self."

"Yeah…"

"So…." Yuna began, a suggestive tone in her voice.

"So?" Rikku raised an eyebrow, missing what had been implied by the word.

Yuna sighed and turned expectantly to her cousin, "So, did you kiss?"

Rikku froze and the memories from the night before poured in. Him standing close to her, the heat from his body within inches of her, his face within inches of hers… She tried to form words, but was only able to force out a half-hearted laugh, "eheh…"

"You did!" Yuna laughed excitedly. She stood, "I knew you two were perfect together!" Turning back to Rikku, she saw the blonde staring intently at the floor. Yuna's smile dropped, "You didn't—"

Rikku shook her head, "No."

"Oh." The ex-summoner could feel the tension that was radiating from Rikku's body. After a few moments of silence, she clapped her hands together, putting a note of cheerfulness in her voice, "So, uh, shall we go to breakfast?"

Rikku's stomach growled at the mention of food. She shook her head to clear it of her thoughts and looked up with a positive smile, "Okay! I'm starved!" She jumped up a little too quickly and the blood rushed to her head. "woah…" Swaying, the young blonde stumbled into Yuna's arms, lucky that the brunette had acted so quickly when she saw her stumble. The two girls laughed.

"Well perhaps you should change first." Yuna tried to inform her seriously, but she still had a hint of laughter in her voice.

Rikku untangled herself from her friend's arms and looked down at herself again, "Oh yeah." She jogged over to her closet and pulled out her usual outfit of a tan skirt and yellow bra top. "I'll meet you in the dining room, kay?"

"Okay!"

* * *

"So, did you tell her I was down here?" Gippal looked up at Yuna as she entered, cutting off a slice of butter for his toast. 

Yuna shook her head, "No. Should I have?"

Gippal smoothed the butter over the toast and then reached for the jelly, "Well, I dunno. But don't you think it might make breakfast a bit… awkward?"

"Now why would it do that?" Cid's loud voice interrupted, "Did you do something to her? I thought I could trust you Gippal."

"No. Nothing happened," Gippal replied, "I just thought that's how things usually are after a first date. I just watching out for you guys." He gestured with one hand and brought his toast to his mouth with the other, "Didn't think you'd want to be caught in some kind of, uh, lovers' tension." On the surface was a cocky grin, but he knew exactly what it was that could offer a source of awkwardness. He hadn't planned on leaving Rikku hanging like that, but he just hadn't wanted to rush things so soon.

"mujanc' dahceuh, ha!" Brother mumbled under his breath as he shoved a forkful of food into his mouth. Gippal managed to quickly point a glare in his direction, but for the most part, ignored it.

Paine, also ignoring Brother, stated simply, "It would be ridiculous for her to not know you're down here. What would she expect? For you to suddenly disappear the next day?"

"E fuimth'd seht dryd..."

Gippal turned to Brother, "Fuimt oui crid ib?" He then turned his attention back to Paine, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Brother, not liking being dismissed so easily, stood aggressively, "Syga sa!"

Yuna pulled out the chair between Paine and Cid and sat down. "Now stop that. She should be down any minute. Let's just, enjoy the food." After all the time she had known him in the Gullwings, she had become accustomed to Brother's antics.

Brother immediately responded, his attention going from Gippal to Yuna, "Yes. Let us do that." He sat down and threw an arm in the air, "We will enjoy this meal!"

Gippal rolled his eyes, Yuna giggled, and Paine shook her head with a sigh, "You know she's taken, right?"

"hmph." Brother crossed his arms, "I was just being en-thoos-e-ast-ik."

"Just you keep trying, Sonnie." Cid laughed, patting Brother's back.

"Ugh, would you two stop it?" Rikku covered her ears as she entered the room, "It's so annoying."

"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Cid retorted, "You know, you could at least give your ol' pop a good-morning- hug."

Rikku rolled her eyes and then let her gaze look around the table. She stopped when she saw Gippal, and, of course, the seat left open for her was the seat between him and Paine at the end of the table.

The Machine Faction leader raised a hand in greeting, "Mornin'."

"eheh… Good morning, Gippal." Rikku tried to mentally remind herself to relax. After all, she really had no reason to be anxious… right? Stiffly, she walked over to her seat and sat down.

"Did you sleep well?" He continued as he took another bite of breakfast, maintaining a steady gaze on her.

"uh, yeah. Perfectly." She focused her attention on the food in front of her as she served herself breakfast.

Gippal noticed a difference in the amount of food she was gathering, "Don't you usually eat more than that," he leaned in and whispered, "Cid's girl?"

Rikku gave him a strange look, "Are you usually this concerned with my diet?"

Yuna shot Paine a look, and the silver-haired girl nodded her head subtly. Even with an extra degree of tension, Rikku and Gippal had already reverted back to their usual type of interaction.

"Ugh!" Brother shouted, "fuimt oui kioc kad y—"

Paine shot him a glare that silenced him immediately. She lowered her voice to a menacing level as she warned him," E fuimth'd vehecr dryd cdydasahd ev E fana oui."

Brother, made uncomfortable by the unnatural look of Al Bhed coming out of the Spiran warrior's mouth, mumbled something incoherent and returned his attention to the meal in front of him. An awkward silence fell down upon the room.

Cid cleared his throat loudly, "So, Gippal, how long do you plan on staying?"

Gippal removed his attention from Rikku for the first time since she had entered the room and turned towards Cid, "I haven't decided. Probably a week or two. I just really needed a break from the Faction."

As Gippal and Cid conversed, Rikku shot a glance over to Yuna. The brunette smiled hopefully. Rikku then looked over to Paine, who just shrugged. Clearly, both of them were still encouraging this to continue. Rikku took a breath and smiled to both of them. _Okay. Maybe you were right about him after all._

* * *

With breakfast ended, Cid stood and announced that he had to get back to work, leaving Rikku, Gippal, Yuna, Paine, and Brother at the dining table. Brother was the first to speak. "So, Yuna, what are you doing today?" 

Rikku interrupted before Yuna had a chance to respond, "Don't you have something you should be doing. Like, oh, I don't know, Zu hunting? Or biting into rabid cactuars?"

"Crid ib!"

Gippal couldn't help but chime in, "ouch. Are you okay, Cid's girl? It sounds like that one really hurt."

"Oui cdyo uid uv drec, Gippal," Brother shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the blonde male, "drec ec y vysemo drehk!"

"My bad." Gippal laughed, bringing his arms up in front of him dismissively.

"Oh, don't you worry about him, Gippal." Rikku took his arm, waving Brother off, "He's the special one." She stage whispered behind her hand as she led him out of the room.

"Let's go, Yuna." Paine grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her out of the room behind Rikku and Gippal.

"HEY!" Brother shouted after them. He sighed half-heartedly giving up, "Tuh'd mayja sa..."

* * *

Rikku left the room with Gippal giggling loudly. "That was great!" 

Gippal chuckled, "Yeah. He just always seems to be asking for it."

--

"You know, I almost feel sorry doing that to him," Yuna looked back towards the dining hall door as she and Paine exited.

"Don't." Paine replied simply, "He's asking for it. More importantly…" Paine looked to where Gippal and Rikku were wandering off, "Look at those two."

"They seem to really be hitting it off don't they?" The ex-summoner smiled, "Being childhood friends probably helped."

Paine nodded, "You know, Yuna, our job here might almost be done."

--

"So shall we pick up where we left off?" Gippal looked down at Rikku, who still had her arm around his.

"Where we left off?" With this response, Gippal decided she either didn't notice or didn't mind.

"Yeah, like, what have you been doing since Vegnagun was destroyed?"

Rikku shrugged, "Mostly helping around Home with Pops. Ever since he realized that it would never really be the home of the Al Bhed again, he's been spending all his time making it everything else."

"I'll say." Gippal replied, looking up towards the towering roof of the main area, "This place seems to have everything."

--

Now, when Rikku and Gippal said 'everything,' they meant everything. Knowing that Home could no longer be the true home of the Al Bhed, Cid had set it up as a base for all things Al Bhed. Home housed the second largest office for the digging and excavating business (the first being in Djose), acting as the shipping facility for sending parts to the Machine Faction. It had also become the main center for machina manufacturing. Readily supplied with parts and tools from Home, the Machine Faction could focus its efforts on inventing and coming up with better models of machina and allow the actual manufacturing to be done in Home's machina garages. Most major business decisions were also through Cid for recording and paperwork purposes.

In addition to business needs, Home also doubled as a hotel-mall combination. There were rooms for visiting Al Bhed, Al Bhed who chose to live at Home, as well as rooms set aside for the prominent Al Bhed leaders and businessmen. Lastly, countless shops and restaurants rented spaces within Home, making the Al Bhed place one of the number one places to get just about anything.

--

"So what have you been doing?" Rikku asked Gippal.

"Eh, not much of anything, really." Gippal shrugged, "Just the usual with the Machine Faction. Busy putting everything back together. Apparently some stupid decisions were made in my absence. Remember that machina you three thrashed?"

"Yowch." Rikku replied, "I bet that was a huge waste of parts, wasn't it?"

"Yup." They passed by the counter that dealt with Machine Faction stock. Gippal paused, looking at it and then turned back to Rikku, "Hey, I got to check on something real quick."

"Okay."

Gippal lifted his eyebrows at her, "You, uh, still have my arm."

The blonde looked to his arm, which she had failed to notice she had been hanging onto all this time. It had seemed so natural that it had never occurred to her to let go, "Oh, heheh." She quickly let go, "Sorry."

He grinned, "No problem. Really." Gippal turned and went over to the counter, leaning casually on it as he talked to the girl working behind it.

Rikku smiled as she watched him, shifting back and forth on her heels as she usually did when she stood in one place. At the moment, she couldn't see why she had ever had a problem with him. Perhaps she had just been away for too long… her thoughts were interrupted by a crackling behind her, "Rikku?"

The Al Bhed girl turned to the commsphere situated on the wall behind her, "Baralai?"

"Yeah, you have no idea what a pain it is to have to search through each commsphere posted in Home to find someone. Can lead to rather uncomfortable situations if you run into someone you didn't mean to…" He trailed off and then readjusted his train of thought, "Please tell me Gippal is there with you. I already had several confusing conversations in Djose before I even found out he was here." As a political leader, Baralai had learned Al Bhed, but he hadn't ever reached the level of being able to understand an Al Bhed who liked to speak quickly, as did many of the machina workers in the Machine Faction.

Rikku laughed, "Yeah. He's here." She turned towards Gippal, who was still conversing with the girl behind the counter, "Hey stop your flirting; Baralai's on the commsphere!"

Gippal waved a salutations to the girl before walking back towards Rikku and commsphere Baralai, "Hey man, what's up?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten." Baralai replied in a mock-serious tone.

"Forgotten…" Gippal rubbed the back of his head, "Nope. Don't even know what I'm trying to remember."

Baralai sighed, "I'm turning 21 in a few days. The party is next weekend."

"Oh yeah!" Gippal laughed, "Alright, drinks all around, right?"

Baralai rolled his eyes at Gippal, "You're still 19."

"And? The party's gonna be at your place, right?"

The white-haired Praetor chuckled, "I suppose so." He turned towards Rikku, "You can come of course. You'll make sure and tell Yuna and… Paine for me, won't you."

"Yeah!" The Al Bhed girl replied enthusiastically, giving Baralai a thumbs-up.

"Alright then. I still have a lot of calls to make. Finding you took way to long. I haven't even talked to Nooj yet…" Baralai shook his head.

"Well, he'll either be at Mushroom Rock or Leblanc's." Gippal told him.

"Wonderful." Baralai direly hoped this wasn't going to become yet another extended search, "I'll see you guys this weekend then."

"Bye Baralai." Gippal waved a hand as the commsphere clicked off. He then turned to Rikku and held up the hand for a high-five, "Alright! 21st birthday party!"

"Yea!" Rikku jumped and high- fived him, "Let's go tell everyone!"

* * *

"Baralai's 21st , eh?" Paine contemplated when she heard the news, "You know the only ones who are technically allowed to drink are Nooj and Baralai, right?" 

"Yeah, but a couple years won't make a difference." Gippal replied as if it was the most natural thing in the universe, "You can't tell me you've never had a drink."

"True." Paine nodded. A good portion of Spira seemed to disregard the legal drinking age, especially after all the other problems that had been occurring made it seem irrelevant.

"It sounds like fun!" Yuna decided. "I can't wait."

"I know, right?" Rikku was so excited that she had begun to bounce, "But we have to wait until next weekend." She stuck her tongue out in visual disgust.

"It's not that far off." Gippal placed an arm on Rikku's shoulder, slightly leaning on her.

She looked up at him and laughed, "But I still can't wait!"

A smile came to Yuna's lips as she looked at the two, and more than just because she was excited about the party. She glanced over at Paine and then stated in a rather conspicuous manner, "Gosh. But I have a lot I need to do at home first. Tidus is probably worried sick about me. I should probably head back to Besaid for a while and just meet up with you guys next weekend."

Paine subtly raised an eyebrow. _You sure about that?_

Yuna nodded her head as if affirming what she just said. _Of course. Look how great they're doing._

Paine shrugged, "You're right. I should head back to Bevelle. I've been off duty for too long. The soldiers are probably getting lazy. Besides, it's been a while since I've seen Baralai, and he may need help getting things together for the party."

Gippal noticed some kind of exchange between Yuna and Paine, but shrugged it off.

"AW!" Rikku whined, "Do you guys have to go already?"

"Sorry, Rikku." Yuna tilted her head apologetically.

"Poopie." She then looked hopefully at her two friends, "Can you guys at least stay the rest of today and leave tomorrow morning?"

"Well, okay." Yuna conceded.

"Works for me." Paine replied.


	6. Stage 5: Rescue

_**Stage 5: Rescue  
**__**Warnings:** None, really. Action and blood?  
__**Disclaimer: **I finally have something that's mine! Square may take every other character and place that I love, but the kid is mine! Mine! (you'll see what I mean…)  
__**A/N: **AH! Please forgive me! Gomen nesai… I know I'm like… two weeks overdue, but I was having serious issues with writer's block and other distractions and then my computer decided to not work… Ummm, anyways. So there is more plot! I'm not quite ready to let this fic go yet; still have a lot more to bring to the table. Anyways, as always R&R and CC are appreciated!_

_There is an Al Bhed translator in my profile_

_

* * *

I have a couple of notes that will become relevant as you read… look for the numbers in parenthesis. _

(1) it can be assumed that from this point on in this scene that Rikku is speaking Al Bhed. I kept most of what she said in Spiran for ease of read. Translation of the other voices is suggested for better understanding, though it is not imperative to do so. I know there is a lot of Al Bhed here…

(2) term of endearment. Not to be taken literally.

(3) from this point on, Spiran and Al Bhed is as it's written.

* * *

It was early the next morning when Yuna and Paine walked out of Home's entrance and began to load onto the Al Bhed airships that were to deliver them back to their homes. Not all travelers to Home received this service, but the Al Bhed found it to be little trouble to lend a little extra support to the summoner who saved Spira twice and her close friends. 

"See ya soon!" Rikku jumped and waved enthusiastically after them from her balcony.

Yuna and Paine looked at each other with a smile, and then turned towards their friend, yelling loudly, "Okay! Take care!" Rikku waved even more enthusiastically in response.

"Now, you're sure this is a good idea?" Paine asked as she threw her suitcase into the airship that was to transport her.

Yuna nodded, "Yup. Just wait; by the time we see them next, they'll be even closer! After all, what can go wrong?"

"Careful. You'll jinx them."

"Oh dear." Yuna brought her hand to her mouth, "Well then…umm… worst of luck to the both of them?"

Paine shook her head, "You should probably stop while you're behind."

"Don't be mean!" Yuna mock-scolded her.

Paine smirked as she climbed into her airship, "See you next weekend."

Yuna jumped into her airship, "Bye, Paine."

Rikku grinned as the two airship lifted into the air, waving until she could no longer see the occupants of the ships. She stretched and sighed, "Aw, now what am I gonna do until work…?" There was a sudden clanking sound below. Rikku looked down to see a machina that was falling apart racing into the entrance of Home. She could see the outlines of Al Bhed on the machina below, waving and shouting frantically, "Asankahlo! Asankahlo!"

"Trouble already?" Rikku stopped mid-stretch and ran back through her room to the elevator.

* * *

"Kad y rayman! Rinno!" The Al Bhed below ran around in a frenzy, shouting orders and carrying bodies. "Frana Ec Dra Rayman?!" 

Rikku ran over to a man who was shouting orders, "What happened?" (1)

"Fiends." The man replied grimly, "They attacked an unprotected digging crew. Evidently they were new…" He shook his head sadly, "Should've known better than to go into the desert unarmed…" He then turned to Rikku, "You'd best stay out of the way. The only way anyone can help now is if they know White Mage abilities…"

"I'm on it!" Rikku rushed past him into the frenzy. Though it wasn't her specialty, she had learned some White Magic while she had been traveling with the Gullwings. Not to mention, her thief pouch was stocked at all times.

"Wait… Secc Rikku!" The man reach out after her, but was too slow and managed to miss her arm, "Ed'c tyhkanuic! Dra machina ec ihcdypma!"

Rikku ignored him and continued to run towards the rumbling machina. An Al Bhed woman was pulling another woman's body from the airship. The injured woman was bleeding heavily, her breaths hoarse and shallow. "Rana, mad sa ramb!" Rikku quickly pulled her White Mage dressphere out, changing quickly into a white-robed healer. "Cura!"

A few of the wounds on the woman sparkled for a moment, but the spell was not strong enough to close them. The injured Al Bhed woman shook her head, "Hud sa... So cuh'c eh drana!"

"Your son?" As Rikku said this, she suddenly heard a wail from inside the machina. "He's still in there?!"

The Al Bhed, who was holding the injured woman, trembled, "Fa lyh'd kad res uid. Dra sylrehy ec ypuid du pmuf. Fa teth'd ghuf fryd amca du tu…"

"We've got to help him!" Rikku ran toward the machina, which had now started to shake with an even greater force. "I'm coming!"

"Fyed! Oui'mm kad lyikrd eh dra aqbmuceuh!"

Rikku quickly changed dresspheres again, back into her more agile thief outfit. "Hold on, kid!" A large piece of metal trembled from on top of the machina and then fell towards the blonde's head. "Eep!" She rolled out of the way, letting herself slid under the machina. Her hands went to her ears as the part clattered loudly onto the floor, inches from where she was now. "That was close…"

"Susso! Susso!" A small cry came from inside of the machina, right above where she was crouched. It sounded with a high-pitch desperation that seemed strangely familiar to Rikku. And then she remembered why…

'_Susso! Susso!' A small, blonde- haired girl ran from her father, who had just delivered the worst piece of news that any little girl could ever hear. She fled to the room that held her mother's corpse._

'_Cdub ran!' Several Al Bhed adults tried to stop her, but the young girl kept running. As she reached her mother's body, she stopped, eyes widened in horror. The body, even though it had been cleaned up by the healers, was covered with wet, crimson wounds. Blood bubbled up from the cuts that were scattered across her entire body. 'SUSSO!' The young girl wailed, unable to cover her eyes and remove the horror from her sight. She wanted to embrace her mother so badly. To hold her tight and somehow make her come back. But the fear within her kept her from being able to get any closer. 'Susso…"_

'_Cdub lnoehk.' A young Brother now stood beside her, 'Cra'c kuha._ _Ra mad ran tea...' He clenched his fists together tightly before storming out of the room, coldly shouldering past his father, who had followed her into the room._

_Rikku watched her brother leave, eyes welling up with moisture. Cid looked from Brother to Rikku, his expression filled with mourning, "Tyikrdan..." _

"SUSSO!"

Rikku snapped back into consciousness as the boy's cry became louder than ever. The machina was now shaking so violently that it was evident that it could explode at any moment. "Hold on kid!" She tried to call to him, but found her voice cracking as tears began to flow down her cheeks. She pulled out one of her knives and slammed it against the bottom of the machina, causing pieces of it to tumble down onto her. She pushed them to the side and pulled herself into the machina. "Kid! Are you in here?"

"Susso?" Rikku turned to see a young boy half- pinned down by a large piece of machinery within the machina, "Susso, ec dryd oui?"

"Your mother's outside." She went to the boy, crouching down to wipe a trickle of blood from his forehead, "We're gonna get you outta here, ya know?"

The boy looked up at her with wide, green eyes. His mouth hung open ever so slightly, but he said nothing.

Rikku stood, sniffing her nose to try and clear her senses. Trying to find a weak point in the entrapping machinery, Rikku threw her body against it. Quickly she pulled back as the overheated machinery scorched her skin. The boy had gotten lucky— well as lucky as you can be when trapped under a giant machina about to explode—and had managed to get caught under a dormant part that was not heating up as quickly. Otherwise, he would be in even more pain. Rikku tried again, this time lashing out with her feet, but the machinery merely creaked in response, stubbornly maintaining its position on top of the boy. A loud popping sound reverberated through the entire machina. The boy's eyes began to well up again, and his bottom lip came up over his top one. "SUSSO!" He screamed loudly, and shortly followed his scream with a string of incoherent pleadings.

"I'm gonna get you out!" Rikku yelled over the boy, trying to convince herself as much as the kid. She knew that the machina had reached its limits, and if she was not out of here soon, it would be unlikely for her to survive the explosion so close to the core. Pulling out her knives, she hacked at the equipment. With each hit, she tried to increase the strength put behind it. The boy beneath her continued to scream. "I'm gonna get you out!" She yelled again, tears of frustration blurring her vision as she continued to fiercely attack the machinery. "I'm Gonna Get You OUT!!" With every ounce of force she could muster, Rikku brought both knives together and slammed them into the machinery.

It creaked. Rikku looked up at the machinery, sweat dripping down her face. It wasn't enough. She panted heavily, "I'm… gonna…get…" Letting go of the knives, she collapsed. The boy stopped his screaming to watch her. He could see the hope fade from her eyes as exhaustion began to take over. He reached out as far as he could with his little hands and grabbed a hold of her leg.

"bmayca, tuh'd keja ib, Ceccea." (2)

Rikku looked at the boy, his eyes still wide with both fear and awe. She couldn't give up. His mother was out there waiting for him. Weakly, Rikku managed to push herself to her feet. She grabbed onto her knives and pulled them from the machinery. "One more time." She brought them back behind her, and as she thrust them forward, there was a distinct popping sound. "huh?" She stopped. The popping noise sounded again. Rikku's eyes widened in understanding. Quickly, she put up her knives and crouched down to the boy, holding out her hands, "I'm gonna pull you out on 3 okay?"

The boy looked up in confusion. She smiled down at him, forcing encouragement through her wet eyes, "Just trust me okay? I'm gonna get you out of here, ya know."

Wide eyed and open mouthed, the boy nodded and stuck out his hands. Rikku closed her fingers around them, also gripping his wrists. "One."

The popping and the creaking grew louder. "Two."

The machinery began to tilt forward, its grip on the boy loosening. Rikku kept her eyes on it, unblinking. There was a visible pause as she waited. Then…

"Three."

The machinery fell forward. Rikku's grip on the boy tightened, and she yanked him out from underneath the machinery before it could fall on either of them. Grasping him closely to her breasts, Rikku tumbled out of the machina through the hole she had made earlier. Once underneath, she found that her earlier path was now completely blocked. Within a second, she scanned the area, found an opening, and carried the boy through. A final, ear-numbing pop sounded, and the machina exploded. Rikku leapt forward with the boy, soaring forward through the air.

She braced herself to land painfully against something hard and cold, but instead found both herself and the boy flying into a warm body as strong arms wrapped around them. All three bodies went flying into a wall. She heard a grunt from the person who had caught them and looked up.

"You had me worried for a moment there, Cid's girl." Gippal grinned down at her. (3)

"Gippal… I have a name, ya know…" Rikku let her head rest against his chest, thankful that he had stopped the inevitable pain that would have occurred had he not gotten between her and the wall.

"Heh, oui'na y sacc." He chuckled as he looked down at her sweat, dust, and blood covered body. Nevertheless, he tightened his grip around her.

"Crid ib." She retorted automatically, not bothering to lift her head to look at him. She wanted to… but right now, it was so much more comfortable to just… let her head rest here for a while, "Where the hell were you anyways?" She tried to sound angry, but right now, she was too tired to be angry.

"Believe me, I tried to get in there as soon as I found you had decided to play hero." He replied, "But they stopped me, saying it was too dangerous."

Rikku snorted.

"Not that that stopped me." He continued, "I was still going to go in there after you, but then they pulled out their guns…" He looked down at her, "They did everything in their power to stop me."

She tried to look unconvinced as she shifted her head up towards his, but she knew better. The Al Bhed here were no weaklings, and even Gippal couldn't do anything if a number of them were to hold him back. Well, he could have done _something_. But killing was usually not the preferred method. "Gippal… I…"

"Huh?" He interrupted her as he lifted one arm to release the squirming bundle below. The boy stuck his head out, his eyes glaring out from underneath his long bangs.

"Fru yna oui? Susso! Drana'c y cdnyhka syh rumtehk sa!" Now removed from danger, the child's mind went back to its usual assumption that 'mommy' was always nearby.

"Strange?" Gippal completely released his grip on the boy, "Huh, so _you're_ the reason she nearly killed herself."

The boy stuck out his tongue stubbornly, still disregarding the fact that he had blood flowing down his face, "SUSSO!"

Rikku pushed herself up from Gippal's body, "I need to help him find his mother now."

"Hey, you shouldn't be moving." Gippal returned his arms to her, "I'll help him find her." He stood, carefully helping Rikku adjust so that she could sit as comfortably as possible against the wall, "I'll send someone over to clean you up too." He rubbed the back of his head as he looked around. Already, workers were moving with haste to clean up the exploded machina bits and avoid the spreading of the fire. Gippal turned back and looked at the boy, "Let's go, kid. We'll go find your… mommy."

The boy stared up at him for a second and then squinted up his eyes, wailing loudly.

"What did I do?" Gippal looked down at the child, unfamiliar with how to act around children. "Hey, hey, let's stop crying, okay?"

The boy continued to wail, "Hu! Oui pimmo!" He then turned and ran over to Rikku, firmly hanging onto her arm.

"Now where have I heard that before?" Gippal asked himself as he looked to the girl who now suffered the boy's iron grip. "Oh yeah." The child's expression and attitude reminded him strongly of a certain Al Bhed girl he knew.

"Heheh…" Rikku laughed quietly, "That doesn't leave me much choice, does it?"

Gippal sighed, looking back and forth between the two blonde Al Bhed before him. "Okay, but I'm helping."

* * *

So, the three Al Bhed traveled through Home to the healer's facility. Gippal helped Rikku walk by supporting almost her entire weight with one side of his body. The young boy tottered alongside Rikku, hanging on firmly to her arm and carefully avoiding any contact with Gippal. Every so often, they had to stop so that the boy could rest since his legs were weak from being smothered inside the machina for so long. Gippal suggested carrying him so that they could move faster several times, but any time he tried to pick the boy up—or get near him in any way for that matter— the child would begin to scream and hit. In the end, the three ended up traveling very slowly in this way until they finally arrived at the healer's facility. 

Upon reaching it, a healer quickly ran out to meet them. Gippal passed over Rikku to him, but when the healer tried to grab the child's hand, the boy reacted the same way he had to Gippal—though not as strongly.

"Heheh… Ra femm uhmo dnyjam fedr sa." Rikku told the healer.

The man looked up at the child, who nodded stubbornly. "E caa..." He then looked up at Rikku, "Must be post-traumatic. Just make sure he stays with you until we get him to his m-o-t-h-e-r."

"Do you know where she is?"

The man sighed and shook his head, "Unfortunately yes. She's been in intensive care since she was taken from the machina. The father is absolutely distraught."

The little boy looked back and forth between the healer and Rikku, unable to understand them. He turned to Rikku and pulled on her skirt, "Ceccea, frana'c susso?"

Rikku hesitated, looking up at the healer. "We figure it's best to not tell him just yet." The man told her.

She nodded and looked down at the boy, her eyes warm, "Cra'c hud rana nekrd huf, pid fa'mm veht ran mydan, okay? Fa haat du kad veqat ib vencd."

"O-kay." The boy replied, grinning brightly and proud of the fact that he had just managed a Spiran word.

The healer continued to lead the two until he found a vacant room. "I'll put you two in here together. Another healer should be here soon to take care of those wounds."

Gippal came in as the man left and leaned against the wall, "So what're we going to do now?"

"Get healed?" Rikku replied, not really sure what he was asking.

"Well yeah, but I mean about the kid. I mean with his mother…"

"Sh!" Rikku brought a finger to her lips and pointed to the young boy, who had looked up at the word "mother."

"Guess he's not completely illiterate…" Gippal ran his hand through his hair, "The point is, that kid won't let anyone touch him but you. What, are you just going to let him follow you around from now on?"

"Why not?" Rikku played with the boy's ponytail, readjusting it in a motherly way.

"Because… because you can't take care of a kid. You're only 18."

"Yeah, only a year younger than you." Rikku stuck out her tongue at him, losing her motherly expression.

"Excuse me?" The healer from earlier came in, "Sorry… but I thought I should let you know. _Her_ condition is worsened. We, uh, don't think she's going to make it."

Rikku's eyes widened, and the flashback hit her once more.

_"She didn't make it."_

Instinctively, she got up and wrapped her arms around the young boy, who had been messing around on the floor, unaware of the conversation that had just taken place.

"The father is going to need some time. The kid will need to be taken care of until the proper arrangements can be made." The healer continued.

Rikku looked over to Gippal, her eyes wide, "Gippal… He's going to lose his… m-o-t-h-e-r."

Gippal's expression softened as the understanding of what was going through her head hit him. He breathed in deeply and then turned to the healer, "We'll, uh, take care of him until the father can take care of him."

The healer nodded, "Sorry for the trouble." And then he left.

"Gippal…" Her eyes changed again. "Dryhg oui!" Rikku ran to him, hugging him fiercely. "We'll be his big brother and sister!" She laughed and ran back to the kid, "Tu oui fyhd y pek pnudran yht cecdan?"

The kid glared back Rikku's shoulder at Gippal, "E mega pek cecdan, pid ra'c duu clyno. E tuh'd fyhd res du pa so pnudran..."

Rikku giggled and looked over her shoulder, "Famm syopa pek pnudran cruimth'd ymfyoc ryja cilr y cuin muug uh rec vyla."

"Bite me." Gippal retorted. He sighed and put both hand up behind his head, "How did I let myself get pulled into this…?"

Rikku ignored him and turned back to the kid, "So, fryd'c ouin hysa, meddma pnudran?"

The boy made a face and then replied matter-of-factly, "Miyo."

Rikku poked Miyo's nose, "Well, Miyo, ed muugc mega fa'na kuehk du pa vysemo vun y frema"

Miyo appeared to think it over for a moment, and then looked up at her brightly, "O-kay!"


	7. Stage 6: The Break

**_Stage 6: The Break  
Warnings: _**_none  
**Disclaimer: **Square decided to be selfish and not share the characters so I can't claim the ones that aren't mine…  
**A/N: **rollin, rollin, rollin, keep that story rollin… Good News! I don't have a long author's note today. I give up on trying to not be late with my updates… I'm going to _try_ and make up for it by trying to get the next chapter up before spring break ends, but no promises. The story is still looking to be about 10 chapters. Anyways, so this chapter is the whole reason why I brought in Miyo in the first place. As per usual, I have a link to an Al Bhed translator in my profile. R&R and CC is appreciated! Thanks!_

* * *

Miyo hummed happily as he skipped alongside Rikku, swinging her arm back and forth. Rikku giggled as she pretended to skip with him, having to shorten her steps to keep from jumping ahead. Gippal trailed behind them, dragging his feet. He had never really been one for kids since he never seemed to know what to do around them. He scratched the back of his head, "Hey, uh, Cid's girl, don't you need to get to work soon?"

Rikku turned, switching her hands so that she was skipping backwards while Miyo continued forwards, "I have a name ya know." She swatted a hand at him, "And why do you have to be such a party pooper anyways? Miyo and I are having fun!" She looked down at the boy, "Ech'd dryd nekrd, Miyo?"

Miyo looked up at her with a grin and nodded enthusiastically even though he did not know what he was agreeing too.

"Still…" Gippal continued, "Cid's not going to like it if you, uh, suddenly disregard your duties."

"Ugh, Pops." Rikku laughed, turning back around, "Don't be such a worrywart. That's where I was headed anyways."

"You're gonna bring the kid?"

"I don't see why not." Rikku replied casually, "He can't cause too much trouble." She looked down at the boy once more, poking his nose, "Nekrd, Miyo?"

Once again, the blonde-haired boy nodded enthusiastically. Rikku giggled, "See?"

Gippal sighed, "Why do I have a bad feeling about this…"

* * *

"Yht ra fyc mavd ymm po rescamv?!" A few of the machina workers who worked with Rikku were now huddled around her and Miyo.

Rikku nodded and continued her story with a dramatic ease, "Yup. Ra fyc mavd ymm po rescamv, yht dra fru drehk fyc ypuid du aqbmuta!" At this, she threw her hands in the air as if to demonstrate the explosion. She then brought her hands down and pointed a finger at herself, "Pid drah E pnyjamo nyh eh yht vnaat res vnus rec pinhehk bnecuh, nacliehk dra tyscam eh tecdnacc!"

"hmph." Gippal grumbled to the side, "I'd hardly call that little kid a damsel."

"Quiet you!" Rikku pointed at him from her center of attention, "You're ruining the story!"

"Well, excuuuuse me." Gippal brought his hands up in a mock apology, "don't mind me; I'm just your humble servant." He finished with a mock bow. "If you wanted me to help, I'm not going to just stand by and wait while you gloat." Gippal crossed his arms, "You can tell them of your _valiant _rescue _after_ work."

Rikku wrinkled her nose, "Why are you so intent on 'getting to work' anyways?" She lowered her voice to a mocking male tone, "Work! Work! Work! No fun for Rikku!"

Gippal rolled his eyes, "Cid would kill me if he found out I came down here only to lower the progress of the machina garage. A lot of people count on this you know."

Rikku sighed loudly, "Fiiiine!" She turned back to her audience with a wink, "E lyh damm oui dra nacd mydan."

As the crowd began to disperse, Gippal approached Rikku, "I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do around kids… It makes me uncomfortable to, uh, not know what to do."

The blonde looked up at him silently for a few moments before grinning and turning away, "Well I guess I'll just have to forgive you."

"Rikku—" Gippal reached out to her and grabbed her shoulder, turning her around to face him. Rikku gave him a confused look, but remained silent as he brought his other hand around to the small of her back. His eye remained locked with hers as he leaned forward towards her. Rikku could feel her heart speed up and closed her lids over her eyes.

"Hey!" Rikku was left hanging as Gippal spun around to face the little kid behind him, "You hit me!"

Miyo stuck out his tongue and blew an ugly sounding raspberry. Then, in response to the glare he was receiving from Gippal, he squinched up his eyes and wailed loudly, "Waaaa! Ceccea! Pek pnudran ec y sayhea!!"

Rikku stumbled backwards, still dazed, as Miyo ran into her legs and hung onto them tightly. Slowly, she let her gaze fall to the boy. She knew he was in the wrong, but still she couldn't be angry at him. Reaching down to pat the boy's head, she tried to soothe him, "Ed'c ugyo, Miyo…"

Rikku looked up to give Gippal an apologetic look, but Gippal sighed angrily and walked away. She continued to watch him until he grabbed a pair of goggles and found himself overly occupied with a half-broken machina that was spewing sparks. She looked back down to the blonde boy in front of her, "Lyh E kad oui du cdyo rana yht paryja vun y ped? Ceccea ryc du fung vun y frema, okay?"

Miyo's eyes quickly went from water wells to brightly shining orbs as he smiled, "O-kay!"

Rikku smiled softly and flicked his pony-tail once. She mumbled something to the nearest worker to contact her if Miyo started causing trouble and then walked over to Gippal. He didn't turn around as she approached. "Gippal, are you okay?"

"Yup." He replied a little too quickly.

Rikku walked closer to him, side-stepping a flying spark, "He doesn't know any better, ya know?"

"Yup." The same as before.

"It's got to be hard on him, ya know?" Rikku told him, a little more firmly this time, "He doesn't have either of his parents right now. He's just… trying not to be lonely."

Gippal stopped and turned around, "You, uh, should probably get to work if you don't want to be here all day." Readjusting the goggles on his head, he turned back around and continued to work on the machina.

Rikku stood frozen behind him, wounded by the cold remark. Without another word, she crossed the garage and found a machina to overly occupy herself with as well.

* * *

Several fixed machina later (with small breaks to check on Miyo), Rikku looked up at the clock hanging in the garage to find that it had long since passed lunchtime. Her stomach grumbled hungrily. "I know, I know." She told her stomach, removing the gloves she had placed over her own. Another stomach gave a small growl behind her. She turned to find Miyo looking up at her with big eyes. "Oui rihkno duu, meddma pnu?"

The boy nodded his head, his eyes still big. Rikku smiled softly and opened her mouth to respond—

"Fa cruimt bnupypmo kad cusadrehk du ayd drah." Gippal appeared beside them, hands in his pockets.

Rikku gave him a look, but didn't complain.

"Mind if I buy?" His look went from cool and nonchalant to apologetic as he looked down at her. _I'm sorry I over-reacted. _

"Well, I guess we can let him." Rikku replied, grabbing Miyo's hand, "nekrd, Miyo?" _I guess I can forgive you. _

"O-kay!" The boy replied.

Gippal went back to being cool and nonchalant, "I get to pick the place then."

Rikku mock- huffed, "Taking advantage of the women and children now are you?"

"Yup." He replied, catching up to them, "Get used to it." He grinned and lightly took hold of her free hand. _May I? _

Rikku stuck her nose in the air, "Meanie." But she let him take her hand, grasping her fingers around his. _You may. _

_

* * *

_

They stopped at a small café within Home and ordered various lunch dishes. When Miyo's dish arrived (a rather large order of hamburger and fries), Gippal gave the kid a strange look, "There's no way you're going to be able to eat all that…"

"Oh well." Rikku told him, "Let him have his fun."

Gippal mumbled something very quietly about a waste of gil before taking a bite of his own lunch order (a sandwich with everything on it).

Rikku giggled before digging into her own oversized lunch order (a large plate of spaghetti with marinara sauce, various vegetables, and a considerable amount of cheese).

After a moment filled only with the sound of chewing, Rikku spoke up, "So, did you manage to fix up that sparker?" She asked, referring back to the machina.

"Yeah, apparently something was wrong with the controls." Gippal replied, taking another bite of his sandwich. He swallowed and then responded with his own question, "Have any trouble with the machina you were working on."

"psh, me?" Rikku snorted, "I'm the best machina fixer there is." She proudly sat up straight in her seat.

"Next to me." Gippal replied smoothly.

"Yeah right." Said Rikku, "You seem to forget that you're talking to the future leader of the Al Bhed."

"And you're forgetting that you're talking to the _leader_ of the Machine Faction— Cid's girl." Gippal replied once more. "Besides, there's no way you guys could make any real progress when it comes to repairs with the way stuff is done in there."

Rikku raised her eyebrows, "What's wrong with the way the garage is run!?" Her voice raised a pitch.

"Nothing at all really." Gippal took another bite, "That is, if you don't mind staying in the dark ages."

"Hey!—" Rikku began to argue back, but was interrupted by a tug at her elbow.

"E's cdemm rihkno."

Both Rikku and Gippal's eyes shot to the now empty plate of food. It had been completely cleaned off. Rikku's eyes were wide, "He ate all of it."

Gippal looked from the empty plate to Rikku and Miyo, "He eats like you!"

"Hey!" Rikku threw a light punch at Gippal's arm.

Gippal pulled back his arm, "Does this mean I have to order him more food?"

"Of course!" Rikku retorted. "You wouldn't leave this cute face to starve, now would you?" She nodded towards Miyo who was still giving her a big- eyed begging expression.

"It's tempting…" Rikku gave him an angry look, "Fine, fine. Where's the waiter?"

Rikku turned to Miyo," Gippal'c kaddehk oui suna vuut, okay Miyo?"

"Yay!" Miyo threw his hands in the air, knocking over Rikku's drink and sending it flying to cover both Gippal and what was left of his sandwich with soda. The boy pointed and laughed at the now- drenched Gippal.

"oh, Miyo, oui haat du pa suna lynavim..." Rikku told the boy, throwing an apologetic look in Gippal's direction and mouthing, 'He doesn't know any better, sorry.'

Gippal gritted his teeth, "I'll find a towel too…"

* * *

The day passed, for the most part, uneventfully—well, besides the number of times Miyo hit, kicked, or got something on Gippal-again and again. Each time, the Machine Faction leader painfully gritted his teeth and shook it off while Rikku lightly scolded the boy. But each time, it became harder and harder to do so… 

After work, Gippal walked Rikku, whose hand was still firmly grasped by Miyo, to her room to change. When they reached her door, she unlocked it and opened it up so that Miyo could go inside. He tried to protest and stay by her side, but she knelt and encouraged him to go and look around inside, "Ceccea fuh'd pa muhk." She told him, poking his nose.

Miyo scrunched up his nose, but ran inside the room, immediately going to the bed and jumping on it. Rikku sighed contentedly and turned back to Gippal, "Thanks for sticking around today. I know he's really energetic."

"Yup." Gippal replied, "But I know someone else who's just as energetic, and I manage to put up with her." He winked, moving to lean on her doorframe.

"Why, I don't know who you could possibly mean." Rikku shrugged and shook her head.

Gippal laughed. He pushed himself up from the doorframe and peaked into her room towards Miyo, "Hey, I don't suppose we could, uh, do something tonight?"

"Sure!" Rikku replied happily, "We could show Miyo around the parts of Home he hasn't seen yet."

"I meant without the kid."

"Oh," Rikku also looked towards Miyo, "But won't he be lonely?"

Gippal brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head, "I'm sure we can find someone to watch him. Besides," He brought his hands down and grabbed onto Rikku's, "I'd like to have another night alone with you."

Rikku could begin to feel herself melt as she looked up at Gippal and the warm expression on his face, "I dunno…"

"C'mon, for me?" He added hopefully.

Rikku felt herself give in, but was stopped by the sound of Miyo in her room, "Ceccea?" She pulled away from Gippal, "I'm not going to leave him by himself. I should stay with him." She started towards her room, "Oac, Miyo?"

"You don't have to be his mother." Gippal retorted behind her.

Rikku stopped and looked back at Gippal, "You don't always have to be so mean to him, ya know?"

"Me, mean to him?" Gippal laughed, "If I remember correctly, _he's _the one who keeps attacking _me_!" He pointed to the little boy that now stood in the doorway.

"He's just a kid!" Rikku snapped, "He doesn't know any better."

"NO." Gippal replied firmly, "He _does _know better. You just keep making excuses for him!"

"Well maybe that's because he's going to lose his—" She stopped and calmed herself before continuing, "m-o-t-h-e-r."

"You don't know that yet, Rikku. All the medic said was that they _think- _Think! that that might happen!"

Rikku looked up at him silently, an angry expression on his face. When she finally did respond it was with a rigid coldness in her voice, "I don't want him to be alone."

Gippal softened his voice and took a step towards her, "He's not you, Rikku. He'll be okay."

"Ceccea…"

Rikku flinched away from Gippal, putting an arm around Miyo, "You don't know that." Her voice broke, she couldn't help it. "And I don't know that I want to continue with someone who hates children, anyways."

"Rikku, wait—" Gippal reacted instinctively. In a moment he had swept her into his arms and looked down at her, a stern yet soft expression in his eyes, "I've been trying to do this for a while now…"

He bent his head forward and took her lips in his. Time seemed to stand still as Rikku felt his mouth passionately mingling with hers. Her chest beat both quickly and slowly as she felt her body pressed close to his. She began to move her hands up, but then stopped and clenched her fists, "No." She pulled back, her eyes shining angrily at him, "You can't do that!" She tore away from him, "You can't just fix everything like that!" She looked as if she was about to say something more, but nothing came from her mouth. Gippal knew this would be his only chance to say something to her. To find something to make everything better. To keep her from closing that door behind her. But he was unable to say anything.

Rikku took in a deep breath, closing her eyes, "Kuutpoa." And without giving him a chance to respond, she turned and disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her.

Both Gippal and Rikku stood on either side of the door. They each stood there silently, taking in what had just happened. Gippal was the first to respond. He huffed angrily and stormed from the hallway, "I just don't know what to do with you!" He exclaimed this to the air, not expecting a response.

"Ceccea…" Miyo hugged Rikku's leg, "Fana oui yht pek pnudran vekrdehk?"

Rikku sighed and grabbed onto Miyo's hands, "Oac, pid tuh'd funno. Pek pnudran fuh'd pa sayh du oui yhosuna."


	8. Stage 7: Relinquish

_**Chapter 8 Part 1: Stage 7: Relinquish  
**__**Warnings: **none that I can think of  
_**_Disclaimer:_** _nope. Still a lot of stuff that isn't mine. The only things I own are plot ideas and Miyo sigh  
__**A/N: **As usual, sorry for the long wait. This was originally going to be one long chapter, but then after finishing the first half, I decided to just split it up into two small chapters because the two halves are so different anyways. Truthfully, this makes this more of a transition chapter, setting up the chapters that are to come. But, I still like it. As usual, R&R and CC are appreciated and the albhed translator link is in my profile. Hope you enjoy, and I promise the next chapter will be way more upbeat (mysterious wink)_

* * *

The week passed by slowly. Rikku tried her best to continue her life normally, sharing her time between caring for Miyo and working in the garage; however, there were times when her usual energetic nature would dissolve and she would become acutely aware that something was missing. The something that had walked away merely days before. This awareness is what caused her to become distracted and drift off into one train of thought or another. Her mind would drift to the source of the absence, the one who had made her aware of this something that had become apart of her.

Rikku developed a discomfort for these driftings, and therefore strived to keep herself busy. But, her endeavors to do so were not always successful, and it was during the times that this happened that she would begin to think of… him.

_

* * *

It had been the morning after…_

_Rikku walked into the machine garage, chatting happily in Al Bhed with Miyo, who was trailing along at her side as usual. "yht drah E cyet, 'YRP, eh bucedeuh. Ed'c cruf desa kenmc.' Yht drana fana YMM draca baubma drana. Yht y kiynt lysa ib du sa, ymm duikr-muugehk, pid E dinhat yht wham! wham! wha-"_

_She stopped short. Up ahead, Gippal could be seen talking to one of the workers in the garaged, discussing possible improvements in their manufacturing methods. Almost as a reflex, Rikku smiled brightly and aimed a wave in his direction. However, even though it was clear he could see her from where he stood, Gippal gave no response. Rikku froze mid-wave and pulled her arm slowly back down to her side. She could suddenly feel each beat that her heart made as the memories from the night before came tumbling to the front of her memory. It had been all too real._

'_So it wasn't just a dream…' She looked down at her feet, 'it… it's really over.' A chilled feeling ran down her spine. Why had it happened? What had gone wrong? Then, a small hand pulled at her skirt. Rikku looked over at Miyo, who was staring up at her with big eyes. Oh. That's why. _

_The regret ran out of her as she looked at Miyo, so seemingly helpless and in need of care. "Aw… How could anyone turn you away?" Miyo tilted his head, the picture of pure innocence. It was right then that Rikku decided that only a cold- hearted bastard could turn away from such a cute little kid. 'Fine. I don't need him anyways. If he's going to ignore me… then… I'll do the same!' _

_Stubbornly, Rikku grabbed Miyo's hand and led him to a location he could stay at while she was working. All the while, she focused on her new decision to ignore Gippal at all costs. "Cdyo rana frema Ceccea fungc, okay?" Rikku told the boy distractedly as her gaze began to wander back towards… 'No! Concentrate!' She went back to tending to Miyo, 'I wonder if he's looking over… No! Concentrate!' She straightened, 'Concentrate! Concentrate!'_

"_Ceccea?" Miyo squeaked, "Ec cusadrehk fnuhk, ceccea?"_

_Rikku was too focused on ignoring Gippal to hear the boy, 'Don't look. Don't look.' She swept past Gippal without even a glance in his direction. 'Ha!' She stopped to congratulate herself, 'See! I don't need him!' She began to dance a victory dance, but then stopped, 'No! That would show that I care!' Still feeling victorious, Rikku went over to a broken machine and knelt next to it, pulling gear and tools out from the drawers next to it, 'I don't need him… I wonder if he saw—no! Concentrate!' _

--

"_E's zicd cyoehk- drehkc luimt pa y mud suna bnutildeja drec fyo…"Gippal glanced over his shoulder, 'Serves her right. Trying to act all friendly… Who does she think she is anyways?' He turned back to the garage worker, continuing his conversation distractedly, 'I knew it was a bad idea from the start. We'll both just end up perpetually avoiding each other. Well, unless one gives in and apologizes… then I might take her ba— No! Concentrate!' _

* * *

"So, I'm going to see you at the party right?"

"hm… what?" Rikku snapped back to reality as her friend's voice came trough the sphere screen.

Yuna laughed, "Rikku! Have you been listening to a thing I've said?"

Rikku flopped down on the floor next to the commsphere in her room, "Sorry, Yunie. I'm listening."

Yuna shook her head, "You're coming to the party tomorrow, right? You and Gippal?"

Rikku shifted uneasily. She still had yet to inform either of her friends of the breakup that had happened. Her eyes wandered over to Miyo, who was jumping up and down on her bed, "Yeah, I guess."

"Rikku, are you okay?"

Rikku forced a grin at the sphere, "Yeah! I'm great!"

Yuna smiled, "Good! I'll see you tomorrow then, okay?"

"Okay!" Rikku replied, her response being echoed by Miyo as he continued to jump (O-kay! O-kay! O-kay!) "Bye!" The commsphere clicked off. "aw…." Rikku rolled onto her back and lay spread out on her floor, "what am I going to do!" She didn't know why she was so nervous about telling her friends what had happened, but something about the thought left an uncomfortable knot in her stomach.

The commsphere clicked again, "Secc Rikku?"

Rikku rolled back over to see an Al Bhed medic looking up at her, "Yeah?"

"Secc Rikku… The boy's father wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, put him on." Rikku replied, curious.

The medic nodded and stepped back. A sun-hardened man walked in front of the screen. "Rikku, right?" (Rikku nodded) "I…. wanted to thank you for what you did—for my family that is." The man rubbed the back of his neck, "Without you, I coulda lost both of them."

_Both…_

Rikku lowered her voice, "She didn't make it…"

The man shook his head, "no." It was now that Rikku could see the skin around the man's eyes through the screen—it was red and slightly puffy, but not so much that the mourning was fresh. The man had been trying to cope with the loss all week. After a pause, the man continued, "Look, I just wanted to let you know that I'm ready to take my boy back now. He's gotta know… We were planning on having the funeral before the body… you know." He looked away, breathing deeply, clearly made uncomfortable by the thought.

Miyo stopped jumping and became suddenly alert, "Tytto?" He turned and looked down at the sphere screen, "Tytto!" He jumped down and smiled brightly into the screen. "Tytto! Tytto!"

The man forced a laugh, "Oac, Miyo, tytto'c pylg." His voice cracked. Rikku noticed something wet gathering in his eyes, but the man quickly wiped it away. This time, a real smile came forth as he continued talking to his son, "Fa'na kuehk du ku rusa cuuh, okay?"

"Pid E mega ed rana fedr ceccea, tytto!" Miyo replied happily.

"Famm, E's kmyt du rana dryd," the man shot Rikku a thankful look, "pid ed'c desa du ku rusa huf, okay?"

"O-kay…" Miyo gave in.

"I'll bring him down as soon as I can." Rikku told the man.

"Okay." He replied, "And again… thanks. Thanks for everything."

* * *

Rikku slept surprisingly peacefully that night, even though she was aware of the absence of the small body that had been sleeping next to her for so many days. Her dreams wandered to her farewell to the boy. As he ran to his father, she experienced a sinking feeling in her stomach. The joy would be short-lived before Miyo would learn of one of the most difficult things that would ever happen to him—the loss of a mother.

"_Susso! Susso!"_ Miyo's voice became intermingled with hers as she once again recalled that day so long ago…

_She had ran then. Ran away. Hate developing for the people who couldn't save her. The people who were just going to accept her dying. She had run to the oasis. It was there that he had found her, leaning over the small pool. He had been the only one that could comfort her. The reason she had been coaxed to return Home. Gippal…_


	9. Stage 8: The Party

_**Chapter 8 Part 2: Stage 8: The Party  
Warnings: **language and general craziness  
**Disclaimer: **Still don't own all the people and places that I don't own.  
**A/N: **Okay, so I know it's been absolutely FOREVER since my last chapter. But I had school and then suffered extreme laziness and busyness this past summer. So yeah, here's the second half of Chapter 8; it's really long... but I just needed to get a lot of things to happen. Anyways, as usual, I have a link to a translator in my profile; R&R and CC are appreciated: Enjoy!_

* * *

Rikku awoke the next morning, not feeling as rested as she should have. She yawned widely and turned over to face the window, quickly flinching away as the burning desert sun hit her eyes. 

"Errrrg…" came her moan as she ducked back under her covers. "Why are you always so bright?"

She lay under her covers for a while, stretching out and trying to cope with this nagging feeling that she should remember her dream from the night before. It was something important, was it not?

Unable to recall what it was she thought she was supposed to remember, Rikku's thoughts began to drift. What was happening today? What was today anyways? Well… yesterday was Friday so… Saturday! Baralai's 21st!

In a flash, Rikku managed to hop out of bed, slip out of her yellow chocobo pajamas, grab her clothes, take a shower, and get completely ready for the day. She stretched out again, "Party! Party! Paartay!" Laughing to herself, she headed down to the dining hall, her upbeat mood following her the entire way.

Cid and Brother were already there eating breakfast when she arrived, still humming to herself. Cid looked up at his daughter and gave her a questioning look, "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"Don't you remember? Baralai's 21st is today, Pops!" She smiled brightly, "Paaaartay!" She skipped over to her father, hugging him cheerfully.

Cid chuckled, slightly taken aback by this sudden act of daughterly love, "A party, eh?" He turned to Brother, "I suppose you're going to the party too then?"

Brother simply grumbled and shuffled his food around his plate.

"Oh, don't be so grumpy!" Rikku pointed accusingly at him, "It's not Baralai's fault that you have no social skills."

"Crid ib!"

"Yes, please do. Don't you, uh, think it's a little early to be so loud?" Gippal nonchalantly strolled into the room, yawning widely and scratching the back of his head.

Rikku started, surprised by his sudden appearance. Gippal had been taking breakfast in the dining hall as per usual, but lately they had each been going out of their way to not take breakfast when the other one was. Rikku sniffed, offended that he would spend all that time ignoring her and then come in and say this. "What are you doing in here anyways? Byndo buuban."

Gippal rolled his eyes, "I'm as welcome in here as you are. The privilege to eat in this room doesn't only belong to you."

"Why wouldn't he eat in here?" Cid added, oblivious to the silent battle that was still raging between the two standing Al Bhed. "Take a seat, Gippal; I'd like to discuss the plans for the day."

"Certainly." Gippal slid into his seat, managing to subtly shoot a victory glance in Rikku's direction. "I've been working on improvements in the garage. You can expect a serious increase in efficiency—"

"Ooooh! Stop messing with my garage!" Rikku squealed, stamping her feet on the floor.

Gippal shrugged, "It's not my fault you have no mechanic abilities."

"Pops!" Rikku turned to her father, pointing accusingly at Gippal, "Are you going to let him insult me like this!"

"hmm… I suppose not." Cid turned and gave Gippal a very serious look, "Gippal, you really shouldn't pick on her mechanic abilities, no matter how lacking they may be."

"Yessir. Won't happen again." Gippal responded with an equally serious look on his face.

"Good." Cid turned back to Rikku, "Now let's just sit down and—"

"POPS!" Rikku shouted, "But— how could yo— he…grrrrr! HE HATES CHILDREN!" Exasperated, she looked hopefully to her father for support.

After a brief silence, Cid raised an eyebrow and turned to Gippal, "Son, do you hate children?"

"No sir." Gippal replied smoothly, "I don't know what put the idea in her head."

The Al Bhed leader shrugged and turned back to his daughter, "See? No problem."

Rikku's jaw dropped, "But! How… huh?" Not knowing where else to direct her anger, the blonde rounded on Gippal, "You! You've been plotting against me behind my back, haven't you!?"

"And there she goes again being loud." Gippal said to Brother, blatantly ignoring the accusation and shaking his head.

"Eh." Brother replied. He cupped a hand around one side of his mouth and whispered none-too-inconspicuously to Gippal, "E'ja ymfyoc ghufh cra fyc lnywo."

Gippal snorted and took a bite of food, "Yeah, no kidding."

Rikku looked disbelievingly between Brother and Gippal, who _never_ got along at all, much less in a pact against her. "UGH!" She collapsed into a chair at the table, knowing there was no way she could win—but not before shooting Gippal the meanest glare she could muster.

"I just don't know what you two are going to do…"

"hm?" Gippal looked up from his plate towards Cid. Rikku continued to glare at Gippal.

"Well," Cid continued, "I would imagine it would be rather difficult to fly with someone you can't get along with…"

"What?" This time Rikku turned as well to look at her father, "Who said anything about… flying together?"

"How else are you going to get to that party?" Cid pointed out, "This weekend we're exporting huge shipments of machina. That's why Gippal's been working so hard."

Rikku shuffled, embarrassed that she had already forgotten. It had been the talk of the garage for weeks. Instead, Gippal responded.

"But shouldn't there still be enough ships to spare?"

"'Fraid not." Cid told them casually, "It's a big shipment, and we need every ship possible. Even Brother's is going to be put into use." At this Brother looked up, giving his father a look, but said nothing as Cid continued, "As it turns out, the only ship that can be spared is Rikku's."

"Well then, I guess Gippy'll just have to walk. Cuz I'm not letting _him_ into _my_ ship!" Rikku crossed her arms stubbornly and stuck her nose in the air.

"Now Rikku—"

"NO!" She repeated loudly.

"He's been such a great help around here, I don't see why—"

"NO!"

"Baralai's not going to like—"

"Well Baralai will just have to deal with it." She snapped, getting up forcefully and walking to the door.

"You know, I can't believe you would be so cruel, Rikku. Especially to someone who's helped you so much."

Rikku paused, her hand frozen on the door. Damn it. He was right. _Poopie. Well I am not going to sink to his level. He may be an ass, but I won't be_. She broke the silence with a sigh. "There's really no other ship, Pops?"

"Nope. Just yours."

Fine." Stiffly, Rikku turned to Gippal with a glare that clearly indicated she was blaming _him_ for this entire situation, "We leave at two. He can't touch _anything_."

Gippal smirked, amused by the fact that he hadn't had to say a single word in his defense, "More time than I need."

Rikku took a deep breath, finally able to calm herself and began to head out the door.

"Just, uh, make sure you're not the one who's late."

The door slammed loudly behind her. So much for calm.

Gippal chuckled, pushed his chair back, and strode out of the room, "Thanks for breakfast, Cid." The door closed lightly behind him, and Cid and Brother were left in silence.

Brother turned to his father with a confused look, "Ynah'd drana bmahdo uv udran..."

Cid cut him short, "Huf tuh'd oui pa kuehk yht cbuemehk ymm dra vih." He stood up from the table, still laughing, "Yuna fuimth'd pa jano rybbo fedr oui ev oui tet."

* * *

When Rikku arrived at her airship, her shoulders drooped in a sigh. She had gotten to her ship as fast as she could for the sole purpose of beating Gippal to it, but by the time she made it, he was already there, leaning against the side of her ship as if he had nothing better to do than stand there and look cool. 

Gippal looked up, a cocky grin on his face, "You're early." He knew why.

Rikku chastised herself. Of course he would know. How could he not after all the time they had spent growing up together? Already able to feel the frustration growing in her chest, Rikku mumbled a quick, "Yeah" and continued walking, not stopping until she was inside and in the driver's seat. "Oui paddan kad eh un E's kuehk du mayja oui pareht."

Gippal chuckled and climbed into the airship. He looked around, eyeing the controls of the ship, "It's been a while since I've been in here." He settled into the passenger's seat, throwing his legs up onto the dashboard in front of him. "You sure this piece of junk will last? I'd be surprised if we even made it to the Calm Lands without breaking down…"

"hmph." Without uttering a word, Rikku pulled back on the control, causing the ship to take off suddenly.

"Hey!" Gippal cried out as lurched to the side, his footing lost due to his failure to buckle himself in.

Rikku ignored him, subtlety covering the defiant smile that was sneaking across her lips.

* * *

The trip passed in a thick silence for the most part, with only a few snide comments exchanged. It wasn't until they reached the Bevelle skies that they resumed their arguing — this time over the best place to land. 

"We should just land where we usually would."

"But wouldn't it be easier just to land where the party is going to be?"

"Is it not in Bevelle palace?"

"Well, I don't know, but what if it's not?"

"Just land!"

Gippal was now standing right behind Rikku, pointing towards the palace. Rikku looked briefly over her shoulder at him, "Just let me drive!"

Suddenly, a ship flew out of nowhere, cutting across the skies right in front of them. Both Rikku and Gippal jumped to the controls and managed to pull Rikku's ship away just in time to avoid collision. Once safely out of the way, each relaxed, only to find themselves entangled with the other. Gippal quickly jumped back, and Rikku moved to the side.

A brief silence followed, broken by Gippal as he asked almost shyly, rubbing the back of his neck, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." An answer just as shy and quiet. Rikku became focused in her driving.

"Well, you should, uh, not be so reckless when you're driving." It was a half-hearted attempt at an insult.

"Well it might be easier to pay attention if I don't have a constant annoyance standing over my shoulder." Her response was slightly less half-hearted. Rikku was determined to remain upset at Gippal, but that could not stop the quickened beating in her chest.

* * *

They landed not much later on the landing dock of Bevelle palace. The sun had moved down towards the ground, positioned proudly to shine its last full rays of sunshine before the colors of twilight could cover it. Baralai came out to meet them, followed by Paine and Yuna. 

"ah, Gippal, late as usual I see." The white-haired praetor spread out his arms in greeting.

Gippal hopped easily out of the airship and went to greet his friend, "Not my fault this time. I, uh, wasn't the one driving." He spared a small glance back towards Rikku, who crossed her arms in a huff.

"You made it!" Yuna said cheerily, immediately going to give her friend a hug.

Paine followed casually behind her, arms crossed across her chest.

"Yup!" Rikku, quickly forgetting her feud with Gippal, enthusiastically hugged Yuna and then ran to Paine- about to do the same-, but was stopped by a careful glare from the silver-haired warrior. "Aw…"

Paine gave a small smile and removed her arms from across her chest.

"Yay!" Rikku jumped at Paine in a glomp.

"Oomph. Always full of energy aren't you?" Paine told her friend wryly, raising an eyebrow. Rikku merely giggled in response.

Yuna glanced over at Gippal and Baralai, who were already crossing the landing to the palace. "So," She kept her voice low, but still excited, "How are you and you-know-who doing?"

"Hm?" Rikku turned from her excessive hugging of Paine. "You-know-wh…?" Her eyes went to Gippal and immediately she could feel something jump inside of her. "Oh, umm…" She hesitated, unsure what to tell her friends, "We, um, are kinda not together anymore, you know?" Not leaving them time to respond, Rikku spun and began to run towards the palace, "But let's not worry about that right now, kay? Let's go party!"

Yuna and Paine exchanged looks of confusion before following her uneasily. "Hey! Wait up!"

* * *

Inside Baralai was patiently waiting as the girls joined the large group of people that had gathered. Rikku pushed through the crowd to the front, moving just fast enough to stay ahead of Yuna and Paine, "YRP, present and accounted for!" 

Baralai nodded politely with a smile, "Good." He turned and stepped up onto chair, still managing to look strangely formal about it, "I'd like to get everyone's attention." He barely raised his voice, but it was enough for the room to quiet.

Yuna and Paine caught up with Rikku, Yuna stumbling forward to grab onto Rikku's arm, "Hey Rik—"

"Sh!" Rikku brought a finger to her lips to silence her, ignoring the look of agitation it caused. "Baralai's trying to talk."

"I would like to thank all of you for joining me today." Baralai began, somehow managing to sound formal in a casual way, "I am, after all, reaching a milestone in my life—"

"Oi, Lai!" Gippal interrupted from the crowd, "Stop sounding so damn formal! You're not _that _old yet!"

"You seem to forget that he's always like that." Nooj walked up to meet Gippal, cane in hand and a playful smile on his lips.

"You guys just won't let me be, will you..?" Baralai rubbed the back of his head. He then looked back up at the crowd and sighed, "Well I guess I better just get to the point then…" Gesturing towards a set of double doors he continued, "If you would, go through those doors, then the celebrations will commence!"

There was a small uproar of cheers as the crowd began to move like a mob towards the doors. Baralai shook his head, stepping down lightly from the chair, "You guys just always have to steal the show, don't you?"

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about." Nooj told his friend.

Gippal swaggered forward and threw an arm around Baralai's shoulders, a cocky grin on his face, "He'll never admit it, but he enjoys making your life a living hell just as much as I do."

"You guys are ridiculous." Baralai replied simply.

"Nooj? Noojie?" A female voice cooed from across the room, followed shortly by a blonde woman in a particularly revealing pink dress.

The maevyn turned his head towards the woman and then looked back towards Baralai, "You'll learn to live with us. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to."

"Yeah, _business._" Gippal moved his hands in the air, placing air quotations around the word. "Why don't you just say that you're off to meet Lebl—"

Nooj raised a finger in the air to silence him, "Because if I ever did, you would jump on it like a wild dog." Adjusting on his cane, he turned to Baralai, "I'm sure you've seen enough of me. You and Gippal go ahead, and I will meet up with you later."

Baralai nodded "okay" as Nooj turned to majestically pace himself towards Leblanc.

Once Nooj was out of earshot, Gippal raised an eyebrow at Baralai, "You invited _her_?"

Baralai shrugged, "It's a matter of courtesy."

Gippal just rolled his eyes in response, "Riiiight, courtesy." He rubbed the back of his head, mumbling in another direction, "Maybe a drink will loosen him up…"

Baralai smiled, "One couldn't hurt. Let's go before the line builds up."

Gippal grinned, "alright!"

* * *

"Rikku, would you stop avoiding us?" Yuna hurried after Rikku, who had quickly disappeared into the crowd once it had started to move. 

"Avoiding?" Rikku turned, rubbing the back of her head, a seemingly innocent look plastered on her face, "Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Yunie? I'm… not… avoiding. Oomph!." Rikku was stopped as she backed into a solid figure standing behind her.

Paine glared down at her, arms across her chest. "We need to talk."

Rikku's shoulders drooped, "aww… poopie."

* * *

"So how have things been going?" Gippal clinked his glass against Baralai's and downed the contents of the drink. 

Baralai shrugged, taking reasonable sips of his drink, "Pretty well. Nooj and I have almost convinced all but the most stubborn to consent to the New Alliance. As of now it's been easiest to run with equal stature in our respective areas." He set his drink down and turned to Gippal, "But what about you? You've been spending the past week at Home, right?"

"Yeah." Gippal replied casually, "Nothing new. Just working with machina as usual."

"What about Rikku?"

* * *

"So what happened? I thought things were going well." Yuna spoke softly but firmly to her friend. She wanted an answer. 

"Yeah well…" Rikku shuffled her feet on the ground, "Things just weren't working out, ya know?"

"Not working out?" Yuna shifted on the couch that sat in a corner of the party room, "When we left, you two were practically a couple!"

"A couple?" Rikku tried to act shocked, "Please! He is the most—"

* * *

"—Stubborn girl I have ever met." Gippal signaled for a refill to the bartender. 

"Stubborn? How so?" Baralai asked.

"Well, for ONE: she gets upset over the most ridiculous things." He shot a glare across the room, where he could see Rikku talking with Yuna and Paine. "Like for instance, there was this kid. The most annoying, awful, stubborn, spoiled—"

* * *

"—Cutest, sweetest, most adorable kid you've ever seen." Rikku continued, her anger building. "Gippal never even gave him a chance!" She shot a glare across the room, and seeing that she was already receiving one from the other side, stuck out her tongue. 

"He's a guy. What else would you expect from him?" Paine pointed out bluntly.

"It's true." Yuna nodded in agreement, "Even Tidus still flinches at even the mere mention of children."

"Well, I don't see why!" Rikku snapped.

Paine shook her head, "No offense, but of course you don't."

"What was that?" Rikku flipped her legs so that she faced Paine, who sat on one of the chairs across from the couch.

"Look, all I'm saying is that children are a lot bigger responsibility than anything you've had to deal with." The silver-haired warrior stood, "Now if you'll excuse me, all this noise is giving me a headache. I'm going outside for some fresh air."

Rikku stuck out her lower lip in a pout and waited until Paine appeared to be out of earshot before crossing her arms and legs and retorting, "Yeah, like having the fate of the world on your shoulders—twice—has no responsibility."

"I heard that." Came the fierce voice as Paine stepped out of the room.

Yuna laughed to herself as Rikku made a number of immature gestures in the warrior's direction, "You know I think she's just trying to say that, with children, you don't really get as much help from your friends. It's a point in your life when you, and whoever you're with, need to be able to deal with it on your own."

"hmph." Rikku snorted, "Well that still doesn't change the fact that Gippal's a stubborn ass."

* * *

"I can see where you're coming from." 

"Well, YEAH." Gippal returned from his glaring contest to down another drink from the bar, "She's like, what? 18? And trying to raise a damn kid!"

Baralai shrugged, "On the other hand, I can see where she's coming from."

"What!?"

"Well think about it." Baralai continued, ignoring Gippal's outburst, "She lost her mother when she was very young as well. I can see why she would develop such a close connection with Miyo so quickly."

"Oh now you don't start on me!" Gippal snapped. "Don't you think I know that? I was there. She doesn't know it, but I saw it happen. She's not the only one who was scarred. We were all affected by her mother's death."

Baralai remained silent. There was nothing he could say to calm the Faction leader at this point.

"We mourned together." Gippal's voice lowered, "It was because of me that she even returned Home. Fayth knows, Cid couldn't have done it."

A few moments passed, seeming eerily silent even with the music blaring in the background. Finally Baralai spoke up, "So you don't want to try and work things out?"

"No." Gippal replied with a sense of finality in his voice, "There's no point. I knew this whole thing was a bad idea to begin with."

"Well I guess that's good then. Because there's someone hitting on her right now." Baralai pointed out calmly, taking another sip of his drink.

"What?" Gippal quickly turned to look in the direction of the Al Bhed girl, finding himself instinctively tensing up…

* * *

"So you don't want to work things out then?" Yuna asked her friend. 

"No, why would I? He's such a drag anyways. I would much rather continue my life as it is, young and enjoying the single life! I know you and Tidus are enjoying yourselves, but why would I want to tie myself down when there are so many other eligible bachelors out there and ready for the taking—"

"Excuse me." A young man said politely, placing his hand on Rikku's shoulder, "Are you here with someone—"

"HIYA!" Almost as if by reflex, Rikku grabbed the poor guy's hand and flipped him over her shoulder, leaving the man groaning in pain on the ground in front of her.

"Well you took that bachelor _down_." Yuna shook her head. "Are you okay, sir?" She went to kneel next to the man and inspect any injuries he might have sustained, "You'll have to forgive my friend, she's still not over her last relationship."

* * *

Baralai couldn't help but laugh, "Bet he didn't see that coming." He then directed his attention back to Gippal, "Look at you. You were just as ready to jump at the poor bastard as she was." The praetor could feel his usual sense of calm and control slipping into laughter as he observed the frustrating-yet-amusing scene taking place before him. 

"Hm?" The tension released from his muscles as Gippal quickly tried to recover, "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about. He just looked dangerous, and Rikku's so helpless that I, uh, was merely concerned for her safety."

"Riiiight, safety." Baralai replied, imitating Gippal's earlier comment. He turned to mumble in the opposite direction, "Maybe a drink will loosen him up…"

"Hey!—"

* * *

"Hey!" Rikku shouted, ignoring the man's groans and the crowd that was beginning to gather around them, "I am too over my last relationship! In fact, no! I'm not! Because it wasn't even a 'relationship' to begin with!" 

"Say what you like, Rikku. No matter what it was, you're clearly not over it yet. And _he_ has the bruises to prove it." Yuna stopped the man as he tried to move, "Stay still. She can cause more of a mess than you'd think."

"Yuuuuuuunie!" Knowing she wasn't going to get any support from her cousin, Rikku helplessly began to look around for her other friend, but quickly realized she couldn't spot her anywhere in the crowd. "Hey, Yunie…"

"What?"

"Where's Paine?"

"She said she was going outside, remember?"

"But shouldn't she be back by now?" Rikku picked her way through the crowd and stuck her head out the door from which Paine had exited. "Yunie! Paine's not out here!"

"Really?" Yuna stood, giving the injured man a potion and last-minute advice on avoiding dangerously over-energized blondes. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Come look!"

Yuna worked her way through the same crowd, "Excuse me, excuse me…" until she caught up with Rikku. "Where do you think she went?"

"I dunno—" Rikku's imagination began to move into overdrive, "What if she got hurt? Or lost! Or what if a hoard of evil chocobos swept down from the skies and—"

"Rikku!" Yuna interrupted, "Get a hold of yourself. She probably just wanted to stretch her legs a bit—"

"PAINE'S MISSING!" Rikku began to shout to the party, "HELP! HELP! WE HAVE TO SAVE HER!"

"Rikku, you know Paine can probably take care of herself—"

"HELP!"

Gippal hurried over, followed by a much calmer Baralai "Paine's missing?"

"She's a commander in an army—"

"Yeah! She disappeared and still hasn't come back!" Rikku jumped at the assistance now being offered. "We have to help her! She's lost and injured somewhere!"

Now Baralai tried to reason with the blonde, "How would you know she's injured if you don't even know where she is…?"

"Dang, we should try and find her then, shouldn't we?" Gippal now jumped on the bandwagon.

"Gippal! Now you're being ridiculous."

"How can you say that, Lai? After all we've been through with her, you're willing to just let her go? What if she really needs our help?!"

Baralai opened his mouth to respond, but Yuna placed a hand on his arm, "They won't listen to me either."

"Oh! You're right! She does need our help!" Rikku egged Gippal on, "We better find her before it's too late!" She grabbed his arm, and together the two blondes ran from the room.

"I don't even know why we bother." Baralai threw his arms in the air.

"What's going on?" Paine came up behind them, closely followed by Tidus.

"Our Al Bhed friends decided to freak out when they couldn't find you." Baralai replied simply, unsurprised by the warrior's sudden entrance.

"Well I was about to come back in when I found this guy wandering around trying to figure out where the party was." Paine gestured towards Tidus.

The blitzer, embarrassed, went over to Yuna and gave her a hug. "Sorry, the game ran late, and by the time I got here, parking was awful. I never did learn my way around this city."

Yuna giggled and hugged him back tightly, "You should have whistled."

Baralai shook his head, "He's the one they should have worried about getting lost."

"They thought I was lost?" Paine gave Baralai a quizzical look, "I _live_ here."

He shrugged, "We tried to tell them."

"So, does this mean we have to go find them now?" Tidus asked, not really willing to leave the party now that he had finally gotten here.

"I say we leave them."

Paine, Baralai, and Tidus all looked to Yuna in shock; she was the last person they would have expected to suggest that. But the ex-summoner merely shrugged, "They've been causing enough trouble as it is. Maybe letting them figure something out on their own will teach them a lesson."

Paine chuckled, "Yuna, you're less of a good girl than I thought."

Yuna smiled, "Never woulda guessed? Now c'mon; let's have some fun!" She pulled Tidus onto the dance floor.

Paine and Baralai gave each other a look, shrugged, and followed.


	10. Stage 9: Lost Together

**Chapter 9: **_**Stage 9: Lost Together  
**_**Warnings: **_none  
_**A/N: **_okay, so I haven't updated in forever, but I'm on Christmas break; so, I'm going to see what I can do about finishing this thing. Ahead of time, I want to say that you don't need to worry about any sex or anything happening in this fic- so yeah… Also, I don't think anything has been revealed about how exactly Gippal ended up with an eye patch- if I'm wrong, then I apologize in advance, but I found nothing about it. So, yeah, I really like this chapter. I was actually able to write it the whole way through without several day pauses. As per usual __I have an Al Bhed translator link in my profile__, also R&R and CC is appreciated! Enjoy, and I will try and get the last chapter up when I can:)

* * *

_Rikku ran out into the streets of Bevelle. "Paine! Paine! Aw, where'd you go?"

"Which way do you think she went?" Gippal walked up behind her.

"Well, how am I supposed to know?!" Rikku threw up her arms, "I've never been able to tell what she's thinking anyway."

Gippal snorted, "No kidding. One of the most stoic girls I've ever met."

"Hey!" Rikku turned to him with a glare, "Don't be insulting her! She's gotten better, ya know?"

Gippal looked exasperated, "But you just said the same thing…" He sighed, "Well, which way do you want to look for her?"

Rikku looked down the two pathways; one was brightly lit and led to a cheery looking garden, the other was dark and led to a series of suspicious-looking alleyways. "If I was a hoard of evil chocobos, I would take my prey…This Way!" Rikku pointed energetically towards the creepy-looking path, "I bet we'll find Paine injured and in need this way!"

"You sound so cheery as you say that…" Gippal began to question the girl's sanity as he glanced down the none-too-welcoming path.

"Let's go! We'll need to reach her before they decide to cook her and eat her for dinner!" Rikku didn't wait for Gippal to respond before she started running in the direction she had pointed.

Knowing there was no point in arguing, Gippal sighed and jogged after her.

* * *

It had been an hour. An hour of walking down suspicious pathways, dodging drunkards, and listening to Rikku call over and over again, "Paine! Paine! Paine!" 

"You know, maybe we went the wrong way…" Gippal began to forget why he had decided to come in the first place.

"But what if we didn't?" Rikku responded, "What if she's just around the corner? PAINE!"

"And what if the hoard of evil chocobos is right around the corner too?" Gippal retorted sarcastically.

"Meanie." Rikku stuck out her tongue, "I don't know why you have to be such a jerk anyways. What did I ever do to you?"

"Um, maybe you decided to overreact over some stupid kid!"

Rikku stopped abruptly and turned to face Gippal, "You say that. But you didn't see Miyo when he found out his mother died." She turned away again and walked quickly away from Gippal.

"She died?" Gippal suddenly felt bad, "Hey, Cid's girl—wait up!" When she didn't stop or slow down, he jogged after her, "Hey, hold on, hold on, you never told me what happened."

"Maybe because I thought you could care less Mr. I'm-so-cool-because-I-have-an-eyepatch-oh-look-at-all-the-girls-I-get-do-I-even-care-about-except-ANYONE-BUT-MYSELF!"

Gippal was left speechless by the vehement hatred in her voice. After a long pause, he finally was able to gather himself back enough to respond, "Is that really what you think of me?"

Rikku could feel tears begin to well in her eyes, "I dunno…maybe…no…umm" She looked up at him, and unable to say anything else, tore herself from his gaze and ran away.

Seeing the confusion in her eyes, Gippal suddenly felt himself wanting to help her, to take her up into his arms and make everything feel better. But what she had said hurt, and so he let her run.

The skies began to thunder and a light rain fell down upon the earth.

* * *

"_You're doing what?"_

"_I'm camping in the Thunder Plains—for a week." The blonde girl looked up proudly at her friend._

"_And you're doing this…why?" Gippal looked down at her disbelievingly. Sure, he has joked and teased her about doing this ever since he found out about her fear, but he had never thought she would be insane enough to actually do it._

"_So that I won't be scared anymore."_

"_And the fact that lightning could come down and strike you at any moment means…nothing?"_

_Rikku placed her hands on her hips, "Gippy, I'm 16 now- I think it's time I stopped being scared like a little girl. Plus, I protected myself fine against Sin- a little storm can't hurt me!"_

"_Then you're not going alone."_

"_What?"_

"_E cyet oui'na hud kuehk ymuha, eteud." He repeated, "What if you drift off to sleep and then get struck by lightning? Who's going to make sure that you don't do something stupid?" Gippal lightly poked the girl's forehead. "I'm coming with you."_

_Rikku stuck out her tongue, but secretly, she was glad of the offer. She had been trying to act brave about her decision, but honestly she was terrified. "Fine, byndo buuban. But, you better not hold me back!"_

_Gippal grinned, "Fine by me. I'm more worried about you causing trouble."_

* * *

Gippal shoved his hands in his pockets. He had agreed not to tell anyone that he had come along to help Rikku because he knew she would be embarrassed. He sighed, looking around. "Damn, Rikku; you've gone and gotten us lost haven't you?" 

He continued to walk down the alleyway. The rain had picked up, as had the thunder and lightning. The water poured down his face and soaked through his shirt, but he had been so distracted by his reverie, that he didn't even notice. "Wonder where she is anyways." He wondered aloud, "She's probably more lost than I am." Reluctantly, he added, "I hope she's okay…"

A flash of light exploded across the sky, closely followed by a crack of thunder.

"Eeep!!!"

Gippal looked up, "I know that eeep."

He ran ahead through the rain, following the source of the shout, "Rikku? Rikku?"

"Cdibet Drihtan..." Rikku stood under a small overhang, wet and shivering, "E ghaf E cruimty kuha dra udran fyo."

"Rikku?" Gippal slowed to a walk and approached her, "Rikku, what are you doing?"

She glowered at him, "Trying to stay dry. What do you think I'm doing?"

"Stay dry, you're already soaked!" He smiled at her, "You really should wear more." He wrapped his arms around her, "You wouldn't be shivering so much if you did."

Rikku moved to push him away, but found herself too cold to do so. Instead, she made a face at him, "You're not really complaining are you?"

Gippal chuckled, happy that she was finally starting to act normal again. "No I guess not. I wouldn't be able to do this if you were warm."

"You betcha." Rikku replied. After a few minutes of enjoying the added body heat, Rikku remembered why they were out here in the first place, "What about Paine? We still haven't found her."

"Hm? Paine?" Gippal unconsciously placed his head against Rikku's hair, "I'm pretty sure we don't need to worry about her."

"Didddn't ssseem you thththought that wwwhen we fffirst left…" Rikku mumbled through chattering teeth.

"Look at you." Gippal held her out in front of him, "You look a true Al Bhed, getting all worked up over a little cold." He laughed, but at the same time, he was ready to get out of the cold himself. "Let's find an inn. They'll have a commsphere so we can contact Baralai and the others. They're probably wondering where we are right now."

"Yyyyeah. Yyyunie's probbabbbly throwing a fffit."

* * *

It took quite a bit of wandering before the two Al Bhed finally stumbled across an inn. Gippal walked up to the host, Rikku still in his arms, "We, uh, need a place to dry off." 

"Of course, Mister—"

"Gippal."

The host nodded and gestured to another girl working in the inn, "Get these two a room and some extra towels."

"A room? We just need to dry off—"

The girl nodded and ran off to make preparations.

"Or not." Gippal shrugged. He looked down at Rikku with a chuckle, "Looks like we're, uh, getting a room."

"Just don't get any funny ideas." Rikku replied, gratefully taking a large towel that the other girl has just brought for her.

"Your room is ready."

Gippal and Rikku followed the girl to their room and entered, thanking her, and assuring that they would call should they need anything.

"Finally!" Rikku plopped down on the bed, curling up on the pillows in her towel.

"You're gonna get the bed all wet!" Gippal exclaimed.

"Deal with it." Rikku stuck out her tongue, "Not like you're joining me anyway."

"Whatever." Gippal went to the commsphere, "I'm going to call Bevelle and let them know where we are."

"Okie." Rikku realized that her clothes weren't getting any more comfortable all wet. She rose from the bed and went into the bathroom, "I'm taking a shower. No peeking!"

"Right."

* * *

As Rikku began to remove her clothes, she recalled how ironic it was that Gippal had found her out in the rain. How many times now had he come to her aid now? She undid her braids, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. She really did owe him a lot. Rikku started the shower and stood under the hot water as it poured over her, and in that moment, she realized how ridiculous this whole argument had been. 

After washing, Rikku wrapped a towel around her and stepped out of the room, "Gippal…"

"Yeah, so we need to rest a bit, and then we'll be back some time tonight, probably when the rain dies down."

"Okay, be safe." Baralai responded.

"And take good care of Rikku!" Yuna added in the background.

"Will do." Gippal turned off the commsphere and turned to Rikku, "yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Gippal stood and walked over to her, placing his hands on her arms, "Yeah, me too."

"I've been a real poopie. I overreacted and—"

"You're in nothing but a towel!" Gippal let go of her and turned away quickly with a blush. He wasn't sure why he didn't realize this before, but suddenly he felt as if he shouldn't be looking.

"Oh…yeah…" Rikku looked down at herself, "My clothes are still kinda all wet."

"Mine too." Gippal replied, "But that doesn't mean I'm suggesting that we both start walking around naked." It wasn't that he minded, really, but he knew better than to try and test his limits, "Could you just please get a robe on, or something?"

Rikku began to blush herself as she realized what must be going through his head, "okie…" She walked back into the bathroom, properly drying herself, and found a small kimono robe left in there for guests. Pulling it on, she walked back into the room, "All dressed!"

Gippal turned around and was taken aback. Now that he was looking at her properly, he could see how stunning she looked, in her cute kimono with her long hair falling over her. In fact, this might be the first time he had seen her without braids ever since she started wearing them. "Wow…"

"What?"

"Uh, I mean…I'm going to do it right this time." Gippal decided out loud.

"I still don't—" Rikku was becoming rather confused, but her stammering was soon cut off as Gippal walked up to her, pulled her close to him, took her face in his hand, and kissed her.

Slowly, he pulled back, "Are you going to be mad again?"

Rikku could feel her heart beating quickly in her chest, and her legs felt weak. The foremost thought in her mind was _why did he stop so soon?_ Gathering strength, she reached up and pulled him to her once more. Their lips met and their tongue mingled and their hearts beat. Passion rose, and soon each found themselves wanting more, moving their hands over the other and slowly walking towards the bed. Gippal fell back upon it, and Rikku landed on top, laughing, "You're still all wet."

Gippal chuckled, "Yup." He leaned forward and picked her up, placing her on the bed, "I should probably get my clothes off."

Rikku laughed, but she began to sound nervous as the sound came out of her mouth.

"Don't worry. Don't worry." Gippal assured her, "Not all of them." He pulled off his shirt and pants, leaving on an undershirt and long boxers he had underneath. "See, it's like I'm still wearing a whole outfit." Gippal went into the bathroom to hang up his wet clothes and then came back, "Since when did you start taking my jokes seriously, anyway?"

Rikku blushed as she saw Gippal, his defined muscles revealed now that he was wearing less, "eheh…how 'bout since we both ended up in a room together making out?"

"Hm? Yeah, you're probably right…" Gippal scratched the back of his head, "Sorry."

Rikku smiled. She was glad he seemed to not want to push it any further. She sat up, "It's okay!"

Gippal smiled too, "Mind if we still cuddle?"

Rikku laughed, "My how girlish of you." She patted the space next to her, "I guess I can allow that."

"Excellent." Gippal walked over to the side of the bed and promptly jumped on it, letting himself land next to her, "You look great, by the way." He put an arm behind her and flashed a cocky grin.

"Thanks!" Rikku cuddled into his arm, "So…what do we do now?"

Gippal shrugged, "I dunno, talk the night away?"

"Won't we need to get back to the party?"

"Only if you want to."

Rikku looked up to him, smiling. She didn't want to head back yet either. Right now, she was perfectly happy just to be with him.

"Um, by the way," Rikku began as she looked at him, "Have you ever told me how you got that eye patch? I can't remember."

Gippal's hand went to his eye. It was funny how he could forget about this thing. He had gotten so used to having messed up peripheral vision. "Not, uh, in detail."

"Oh yeah." Rikku responded, "Machina accident."

"Yup."

"So, what are the details?" Rikku asked, now curious.

"It, uh, was a rampaging machina." He paused, as if trying to decide something, then continued, "the…same one that got your mother."

Rikku gasped, breathing in sharply, "You… saw it happen."

"Yup." He replied, though differently than usual, "I tried to stop it, but there's only so much a little kid can do. You might remember I found you later with a bandage over my eye."

"You said you bumped it. You didn't tell me you were blinded."

"I wasn't at first. It, uh, took a while for it to really set in. Then, when you asked about it, I didn't want to bring up your mother again; so, I didn't tell the whole truth." Gippal was now looking forward at the wall in front of him, afraid to meet her gaze.

Rikku sat in shock, "I can't believe it. You were there the whole time…"

"Your mother was one of the best Al Bhed there ever was." Gippal looked down at Rikku, hoping to cheer her up a bit, but found that she was already smiling.

"Gippal, you've always been there for me. How is it, that no matter how hard I try, you always end up being the one to pick me up in the end and help me?"

Gippal wasn't sure how to answer, "Talent?"

Rikku laughed and rolled on top of him, giving him a kiss, "Guess so!"

Gippal rolled her back over and leaned over her with an arm on either side, "E ruba ed cdyoc mega dryd. Sa paehk dra uha du ramb oui."

Rikku looked up at him, once more able to feel her heart beat, "Sa duu."

Gippal smiled, not a cocky grin or even a smirk, but a real smile. He leaned down and kissed her forehead lightly, keeping his face by hers for a moment longer, before lying down next to her and pulling her close to him. Together, Rikku and Gippal cuddled until eventually they fell asleep…


	11. Stage 10: Mission Complete

_**Chapter Ten: Stage Ten: Mission Complete  
**__**Warnings: **__none  
__**A/N:**__ Here is the moment you've all been waiting for: the completion of the final chapter. Never thought I'd get around to it, did you? Hehe, anyway, it's not too long, but there wasn't much left to do. Good news! Once again, there is very little translating, and it's only at the very end! As per usual, __there is a link to an Al Bhed translator in my profile__. Thank you so much if you've stayed with me for this whole thing. I really appreciate the support of my readers. So, anyway, I hope you enjoy the last chapter and please R&R and feel free to leave CC! Thanks!_

_- Rikku

* * *

_

"Oh…my…faith…"

Rikku stirred from her sleep and opened her eyes to find her cousin standing at the end of the bed, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide open with shock. The sunlight poured in through the wet windows, casting mini-rainbows upon the audience that now beheld the two Al Bhed.

"Gippal…Gippal…you'll never change will you?" Baralai shook his head.

"You're not that surprised are you?" Nooj added, "It's just unfortunate poor Rikku had to get caught up with him."

"hmph." Paine crossed her arms and glared at Gippal.

"Yunie?" Rikku rubbed her eyes and sat up, disturbing Gippal from his sleep. He turned over drowsily, shaking his bed-hair with his hand, "What are you guys doing here? We said we'd be back."

"When you didn't return by morning, Yuna got worried." Paine was almost growling, "But now I see what you really wanted."

Yuna just kept shaking her head, "Rikku, you didn't…"

"What?" Gippal blinked his eyes, "Oh, this." He gestured to the bed, "Well you see, we got all wet, so we needed to take off our clothes. We needed to stay warm, so we cuddled on the bed…"

"Is that really the best you can come up with?" Baralai snorted.

"Yunie! Nothing happened! I swear!" Rikku was now out of bed, having leapt over to her cousin, "I'd never ever do that! Especially not with Gippal!"

"Gee, thanks." Gippal sat up and started stretching.

"Oh, Rikku, I want to believe you—" Yuna began but was interrupted by Paine, "but you know how suspicious this looks, right?" She walked over to Gippal and gave him an intimidating glare, "I swear, if you took advantage of her…"

Rikku jumped in between her friend and Gippal, who was rightly beginning to become very afraid of the silver-haired warrior. "No, no, no, Paine! Nothing happened! We just fell asleep!"

Baralai looked over to Gippal, "Really?"

Gippal shrugged, "I know, it's weird that she managed to resist me but…nothing happened."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Yuna hugged her cousin, "We were so worried about you!"

"I'm sorry, Yunie." Rikku pleaded, "It won't happen again!"

"Speaking of which," Gippal rolled his legs out of the bed, "where was Paine this whole time? She's the one who got Rikku all worried in the first place."

For the second time in a week, Gippal found Paine's sword at his neck, "Are you blaming this on me?"

"Eheh…no…of course not." Gippal waved his hands dismissively in front of him, "I was just wondering…"

Paine lowered her sword, "I was showing him to the party." She thumbed back towards Tidus, who had stayed back during all this.

The blitzer waved, "So, we should probably head back now, right?"

Nooj turned towards the door and walked steadily out, "I agree. I've had quite enough of this nonsense for now."

Gippal stood and as he did so, heard the ex-meyvn add, "But please don't forget to put some clothes on. No one wants to see that."

Gippal made an immature hand gesture, "I have some ladies who I'm sure would disagree."

Being one of those ladies, Rikku turned away to hide her blush. Yuna blushed and turned too, but only because she was being polite.

"I need to get back to the palace." Baralai commented. "Could we please hurry this along?"

"Sure, sure." Gippal waved him off, "Could you guys just give us a second?" When no one reacted, he added, "Alone."

Baralai gave him a look, but nodded and walked out.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Paine asked, raising an eyebrow, her hand just itching to pull out her sword once more.

Gippal rolled his eyes, "Do you really think so little of me? Wait, don't answer that." He scratched the back of his head, "Look, I just want a chance to talk to Rikku- plus, we both need to get dressed anyway."

Rikku saw the look on his face, "Please Yuna?"

Yuna walked over to Paine, "I think it'll be okay. We'll just wait outside."

Reluctantly Paine nodded, giving Gippal a final look before exiting the room with Yuna and Tidus.

As they walked out, Tidus could be heard asking Yuna, "Why did you think it was such a big deal? You know you and I—"

"Tidus!"

* * *

Now alone, Gippal turned back to Rikku, "Crazy, huh?" 

Rikku was still blushing from the whole event, and having Gippal standing there like that, looking all hot and stuff, wasn't helping much, "Y-y-yeah."

"Geez, can you believe them? Thinking you and I—"

"Y-y-yeah."

Seeing how nervous she was, Gippal walked over and hugged her tightly, "You know, I'm starting to think Paine was right. About us that is."

Rikku looked up at him quizzically, "What?"

"Yeah, I didn't say this before, but Paine was the reason that I got up the courage to ask you out."

Rikku raised her eyebrows, "Yuna was the one who convinced me to say yes!"

"Huh… Glad to know that we both had to be convinced." Gippal chuckled, missing the look in Rikku's eyes.

"I KNEW they were plotting something!" Rikku shouted, breaking free of Gippal's embrace and throwing her hand dramatically in the air, "Ooooh! I am going to get them for this!"

"Are you really that upset?" Gippal asked, slightly offended.

"Well…no. But it's the principle of the matter!"

"I'm starting to think you just look for excuses to get into trouble…" Gippal shook his head, "Look, let's just get dressed and then we can go "get them" however you want."

"Okie!" Rikku ran into the bathroom, throwing Gippal's clothes out as she closed the door loudly behind her.

Gippal sighed, "I have weird taste in women."

* * *

The group now stood on the rooftop of Bevelle palace. Nooj had already left about his business, and Yuna and Tidus were preparing their ship to head back to Besaid. 

"Aw, Yunie, I'm going to miss you! Come visit Home soon okay?"

Yuna smiled warmly at her cousin, "Of course, Rikku."

"But no tricking me into any more relationships! Okay?"

"Of course, Rikku."

A soft whistle rang out from the ship and Tidus waved from it at Yuna, "All ready!"

Yuna's smile widened at the sound and waved back, "Okay!" She turned back and went to her other friend, "It was fun plotting with you Paine."

Paine smirked, "Yeah."

"You knoooow." Rikku walked over to her friends, hands clasped behind her back, trying to look innocent. "Now that you two had a mission together, I think it's MY turn to have a two-person mission."

"Oh? What were you thinking?" Paine asked.

"Weeeell," Rikku moved closer to Yuna and looked pointedly at Paine and Baralai, who were standing next to each other, "Since you two had so much fun pairing up me n' Gippal, maybe Yunie and I should have some fun pairing a certain two others. It could be called YR Operation! Paine and Baralai Together At Last!"

"PABTAL? Really, you two come up with the worst names." Paine shook her head, "Besides, I'm pretty sure that isn't a good idea."

Baralai flushed and balked away slowly, "You know…I think I have some business to get to…"

Gippal chuckled, "See ya later Lai!"

"They'll get used to it." Rikku decided in a voice she thought sounded official, "Right, Yunie?"

Yuna laughed, "Maybe later Rikku. I think I've had enough excitement for a while."

"I always knew I could count on you, Yuna." Paine voiced.

"Awwww! Yunie! You're no fun!" Rikku immaturely stamped her feet.

Yuna winked conspicuously, "I said later didn't I?"

"Yay!"

"Maybe I spoke too soon." Paine shook her head, "Well, I'm going to get out of here before Rikku decides to cause any more trouble. The troops have probably gotten out of order in my absence anyway."

Tidus whistled again. "Yeah, I need to go too. Tidus and I promised to help out Wakka and Lulu today by babysitting Vidina." Yuna gave both of her friends a big hug.

"Try not to scare the poor kid too much Yuna."

"Scare him? How would I scare Vidina?" Yuna looked quizzically at Paine.

"Not Vidina, Tidus." Paine chuckled, "I've seen how you have started looking at children."

"Hm, I guess you're right." Yuna smiled, "Tidus isn't quite ready for that step." She audibly sighed, "Oh well, I better head out. Let's not forget to get together again, okay?"

Rikku and Paine both nodded, and Yuna ran to meet Tidus at their ship. Tidus helped her in and then pulled her into a big hug as they both waved goodbye.

Paine started towards her mini-bike that she rode around in while in Bevelle, "See ya Rikku."

Rikku shouted good bye, and as she started waving, she felt strong arms wrap around her waist, "You ready to head out?"

Rikku turned around, giggling, "Are you going to let me drive properly this time."

Gippal appeared to think about it for a second, "I guess. It's is your ship after all. I wouldn't know how to drive a piece of junk that old anyway."

"Hey!" Rikku began to struggle playfully, but was soon stopped as Gippal leaned forward and caught her mouth in his own. Within seconds, she had calmed down and had her arms lightly over his shoulders.

Gippal pulled back with a cocky grin on his face, "E drehg E mega dryd dnelg, Cid's girl."

"Tuh'd bicr ouin milg, Gippy." Rikku smiled and pulled him back to her. Once she finished, she pulled back once more, "Okie! Ready to go now!" She released herself of his grip and began running towards her airship.

Gippal sighed, watching her for a few seconds before jogging after her, "Hey, wait up!"

* * *

**The End**


End file.
